


The Lonely Mechanic

by ImpossibleLaughs



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Depression, Friendship, Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-25
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-09-08 15:04:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 45,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8849584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImpossibleLaughs/pseuds/ImpossibleLaughs
Summary: Leo Valdez is, and always will be, the Seventh Wheel. After blasting Gaea to smithereens, life at Camp Half-Blood takes a slow turn as Leo begins to feel even more like the outsider. This culminates in his departure from Camp, the Gods of Olympus, and his friends to try and lead a better life; resulting in one final quest for the Seven to partake in. One quest to end it all.





	1. The Realization

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, so I originally posted this over at Fanfiction and forgot all about AO3 until now (sorry!). Just a quick preface before we get to the story:
> 
> I wrote this at the start of a very dark time in my life and used it as an outlet for what I would soon realize to be my MDD rearing its ugly head for the first time. As such, I used this as a release and creative outlet to make myself feel better and put it all out on paper (or...er...screen). With that said, don't feel bad if you critique it! I wrote a vast majority of this three years ago and I've grown a lot as a writer (the comparisons of Ch 1 and 14 are astounding) and I can take criticism well. 
> 
> Also take note that this happens after all Heroes of Olympus and Percy Jackson series, I haven't read Trials of Apollo yet so there's no mention of that so far. I do bend details of the books a tad to fit the story I started before BOO came out, though, but I believe it fits properly within canon thus far. As such, all characters are as close to themselves as I can make them, there are plot points connecting to the main series and such but do remember that it is several years after the fact and people change slightly. 
> 
> Finally, I started this with no intention of it being a story with chapters, only the first two were meant to be a one-off but community love and my own depression and creativity (for better or worse) wanted/needed it done. 
> 
> If you wish to follow me over at FF(dot)net my name over there is the same here: ImpossibleLaughs. I'll try to keep both accounts up to date with stories (I only really have two I'm working on, this one and a crossover fic of Percy Jackson and Marvel) but no promises as I'm working on my first actual novel and am in college so I'm rather busy.
> 
> Thanks and I hope you enjoy!

_"You will always be the outsider, the seventh wheel."_

Those words ran through Leo's head constantly. Whether he was fixing the _Argo II_ , fighting monsters, hitting on girls, cracking jokes, or lying in his bed. It was always the same thing…playing like a stupid broken record.

_"You will always be the outsider, the seventh wheel."_

Leo had tried to blow it off, thinking the Goddess was just messing with him. He tried to put on his fake smile and make his jokes to help him forget. For a while he convinced himself everything was fine, that he was thinking too much.

_Try not to think, it interferes with being nuts._

_You aren't just nuts. You're bolts, you're screws…you're a pile of tools for them to use then throw away until they need you again._

_STOP IT. Just...stop._

_"_ _You will always be the outsider, the seventh wheel."_

He would pilot the _Argo II_ for hours on end and turn to his friends for company, but they had all the company they needed. Percy had Annabeth. Hazel had Frank. Jason had Piper. Even Coach Hedge had his movies and magazines. All Leo had was a dragon head that would creak and whistle at him. Not exactly built for small talk.

All he had was his machines.

He finally started to realize that he _was_ the seventh wheel, the odd man out, the lonely "repair boy". He kept up his act though, he couldn't take the thought of his friends losing hope despite all they had been through. So, he kept them together without even an acknowledgment.

_They're just catching up before we fight Gaea, before we die. Everything will be fine after we stop the war. Then we can hang out. But who wants to catch up with me? Who wants to talk to the mechanic? Who wants to talk to Leo "Seventh Wheel" Valdez?_

He'd try to talk to them to be blown off like an annoying gnat, thinking him stupid…until they needed him like a wrench in a dusty tool box.

_"_ _You wouldn't understand Leo."_

_"_ _Now's not the time for jokes, Valdez."_

_"_ _Can't talk now, busy working on battle plans."_

_"_ _Maybe later, repair boy."_

_"_ _See if so and so wants to hang out with you."_

_"_ _You will always be the outsider, the seventh wheel."_

All Leo had was his machines, but even they couldn't talk to him.

After the war, things never picked up. Sure, he felt needed by getting them to the Doors of Death; but his need was gone as much as it came. Getting home was a piece of cake, aside from some storms and monsters but Leo kept the group together; not wanting their spirits to dampen after all they had been through. Leo kept up his act of being the funny repair boy.

Humor was a good way to hide the pain.

He was welcomed back to Camp Half-Blood as a hero, they had a feast, they had fun, and they loved Leo…for a while. They just as soon tossed him to the side of the workshop, they all had someone to come back home too. Everyone except Leo. Jason had Thalia, Piper had her dad, despite their differences, Annabeth and Percy had their family, Frank had his grandma, and Hazel had Nico. They were all happy to be back with their families and loved ones…

All he had was his machines.

They never truly left Leo. They stayed close to him, but just close enough so they could ask for his help when they needed it. He always helped. Despite being the seventh wheel, he always helped people. Leo always found time for people around him, but no one found time for him. Even his brothers and sisters were too busy for him, except when they needed help with forging.

_"_ _Leo, help us with the automatons."_

_"_ _Leo, help us with Bunker 9."_

_"_ _Leo, help us with Archimedes' work."_

That's all he was, he was a tool in their work belt. He was a prop in the background of everyone's lives to only being noticed when he was needed…and even then….

_"_ _You will always be the outsider, the seventh wheel."_

It had been a few months since the war, Leo sat on the beach with his knees up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. Nothing had gotten better for him. He sat there and stared for hours, wondering what problem he would have to fix next, what machine would break, what relationship he would have to help mend, what project would come up next, what person would put up with Leo for a few hours to get what they wanted. He sat and stared, watching the waves roll across the sandy Earth.

So calm, so peaceful, so sad.

It reminded him of how the camp acted now, now that they were in a new age of peace.

So calm, so peaceful, so lonely.

He snapped his fingers and a small flame danced on his grease covered fingers. Casting a small glow on his face, a small light of hope that it would get better. But, Leo was smarter than that. He knew it never would.

_Would they even care if I left?_

_Would they even notice?_

_Would they even look?_

He heard a throat clear behind him as he sat and watched the flame. He quickly put on his fake smile, the one he perfected to hide his feelings, and closed his hand to snuff out the flame. He turned around ready to fix someone's problem, ready to cherish those few moments of someone putting up with the lonely mechanic.

_"_ _You will always be the outsider, the seventh wheel."_


	2. The Decision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't remember when I updated this story after the first chapter went live, sorry. Imagine this story being updated over the course of three years, I suppose, if it's that important to you.

_"_ _Don't stay in one place too long. It is the only way to stay ahead of the sadness."_

He snapped his fingers and a small flame danced on his grease covered fingers. Casting a small glow on his face, a small light of hope that it would get better. But, Leo was smarter than that. He knew it never would.

_Would they even care if I left?_

_Would they even notice?_

__Would they even look?_ _

He heard a throat clear behind him as he sat and watched the flame. He quickly put on his fake smile, the one he perfected to hide his feelings, and closed his hand to snuff out the flame. He turned around to see the last person he expected, the last _ _Roman__ he expected, wanting to put up with the little repair boy; Reyna.

Leo quickly cleared his mind of his thoughts and put in the template brain he had made that consisted of corny jokes and ways to hide his feelings as he looked at Reyna.

"Hey Valdez! We need help with…"Reyna started but trailed off as she saw Leo's look, a hint of dried tears on his cheek "…are you okay, Leo? What are you doing all alone out here?"

Leo wiped his face, remembering he had let his emotions take hold for a split second, which resulted in grease smearing over his cheek. Recovering from his disappointment, Leo responded, "Oh ya know, just figuring out how to incorporate some of Archimedes' inventions into my plan for world domination." He said with a false smile on his face, he couldn't even feel his face muscles. They weren't numb.

But he was.

Reyna eyed him with a questioning look but disregarded it to say that _he was needed at the_ _ _Argo III__ , at the arena where some automatons were being finicky and that Jason was looking for him about something important.

__I'm just a tool in a tool belt._ _

Reyna noticed that Leo had been starring at a spot, so she sent a loud _crack_ through the still air as she snapped her fingers. Leo was jolted out of his thoughts and looked the Roman Praetor directly in her eyes, wondering what she wanted now with the seventh wheel. His brown eyes stared into her's, both questioning each other without words. Reyna, wondering if there was something wrong with Leo, while Leo wondered why someone as important as her cared about just a lowly mechanic.

__No one cares._ _

"Are you sure nothing's wrong Leo? You seem…out of it." Her brow furrowed as her warm hand found its way to Leo's shoulder. He didn't know how to react. The mechanic was simply not used to being touched in such a way or talking to someone for more than ten minutes. He truly believed he had lost his nerve endings when he 'died'.

__It's because no one cares about you, they just want your skills._ _ __We've been over this repair boy._ _ __Just think, what would they do if you left forever?_ _ __They'll find another mechanic. Nyssa is just as good, if not better, as you. You're expendable. Always have been...always will be..._ _

"Psh, the only thing that I'm out of is that _Spray On Wit_ that the Stolls sold me. _"_ He retorted as he smoothly brushing her hand off his shoulder, "Speaking of, can you see if they have any more? I've got a hankering for knock-knock jokes." Leo was curious, he knew almost everyone's breaking points with him. But he didn't know Reyna's. He had made a list of people he could talk to the longest...a list of two people.

Reyna eyed him carefully before continuing, "Well, if you need anything Valdez, you know where to find me." With a twist on her heels, she left the Lonely Mechanic just as she found him. Alone on a beach.

__See? They just want to use you for their tasks again! What are you going to be this time? A screwdriver? A hammer? A drill? You'll always be the outsider, kid. Not even Reyna has the time for you._ _

"You're right." He muttered, "And you know what tiny voice in my head? I'm tired of it." With eyebrows furrowed, he turned towards Camp Half-Blood to finish the tasks set for him. Then he'd do it.

Despite the decision, he still tried to be his old self when he was working. Secretly hoping his friends would unknowingly convince him to change his plans. Whilst fixing the _Argo III_ , having been made after the Second Giant War, he cracked his usual jokes but with no results. He scolded himself to stop getting his hopes up that they, or anyone, would ever care. But, Leo was an optimist despite all the darkness around him.

Even his own cabin mates ignored him, he was no longer the "Cool Fire User Guy". He was now the "Annoyingly Hyper Little Brother". His last resort on the ship was Annabeth, but even she seemed to shut down all attempts at conversation with Leo. Leo could live with Annabeth not liking him, she _did_ scare him a little, afterall.

__Annabeth is probably going through something with Percy, they always fight. Or she just hates me. Maybe she just wants me to leave? Maybe she doesn't even like me, and never did?_ _

__That's not true!_ _

__Name a time when she acted like she cared._ _

"I got nothing." Leo said out loud, adjusting the NAV system for the new AI.

"I'm sorry?" Annabeth, who was next to Leo working on the interior architecture, questioned with her face scrunched up in thought. Eventually her eyes drifted from her paper to the repair boy, having missed what he said. The thought came into her mind to ask why he had been acting so strange recently, but Leo always acted strange. It was characteristic number one for him.

"Leo, what'd you say?" She asked again, annoyance plastered upon her face before she sighed, having forgotten that Leo had the worse case of ADHD she had ever seen in a demigod.

"What? Oh sorry, I just said I have nothing but awesomeness planned for this ship!" Leo quickly responded. He had given up any shred of hope that she would even talk to him about anything besides asking for help. Giving up any hope of ever being accepted.

_" _You will always be the outsider, the seventh wheel"__

Lunch was the same. He sat with Percy, Nico, Frank, and Hazel. Leo had a ham sandwhich with a side of awkward silences. No one even looked at him.

__They all hate you. They could have gotten to the Doors of Death without you. They used to be scared of you, they used to fear your fire. You were supposed to destroy the world. Now look at you. You're weak, a lowly mechanic. Show them your true power; show them the error of their ways!_ _

"No" Leo whispered at the table, "Never.", slowly rising from his seat to walk to the arena.

After fixing the automatons, taking several mechanical punches from them in the process, he went to Zeus' cabin to meet with Jason.

__He probably wants to hang out! We haven't hung out since Zeus knows when!_ _

__Or he just wants something, like everyone else. You'll always be the outcast._ _

"Hey, Fly Boy! What's up? What'd you want to talk to me about?" Leo asked, tilting his head with a wide grin slapped across his face. "Want to hang out or something? We could go and spar in the arena! I just fixed the automatons there so we could even fight them! Or race on the climbing wall! I promise I'll use only one hand this time!"

"Sorry, Leo, I just can't right now. I actually wanted to ask you something." Jason said, putting his hand on Leo's shoulder. Leo's body felt squeamish at the sensation, it felt unnatural for anyone to touch him.

__See? He just wants help with something. You're worthless and annoying, a side character. They're strong heroes meant to be spoke of in legends. What are you? A scrawny repair boy?_ _

Leo tried to clear his head before telling Jason, his best friend, he'd _obviously_ help…again. Jason had wanted Leo to make a clever box for a ring Jason had gotten for Piper; for the proposal. The lonely mechanic accepted and went to his cabin to begin his final two tasks, to make the box and prepare.

After skipping dinner and spending 5 hours alone, Leo had made a ring box that would have made even his dad proud. It was a simple bronze on the surface but on the inside it played a soft song, had a moving picture of Jason and Piper kissing on the bottom of the lid, a stand for the ring to sit in and twirl around while the music played. There was a small inscription on the stand that read, __"Yours forever."__ _in fancy script._ He walked over to his bunk in Cabin 9 to gather his things in a small suitcase. After scribbling a note, he placed it under a picture along with the ring box and a wrench. His wrench.

Having collected his suitcase, he strapped his tool belt to his waist and slipped on a Cabin 9 ball cap before taking a walk down memory lane. Leo remembered the times he spent with his friends and family, remembering the Giant War, building the __Argo II__ _,_ playing pranks with Hermes cabin, and falling in love with her. He took one last look at Camp Half-Blood as he stood on Half-Blood Hill, saying his final goodbye.

Though he wanted to say it, he had no words. No goodbyes. No final realization that he had forgiven them. Though he wanted to, he just stood in the dark under the pine tree. The moon casting shadows on his elfish face as he wiped his teary eyes. A moment passed before he turned away from the camp and towards a new life. One he would be forging for himself from a clean slate.

_"_ __Don't stay in one place too long. It was the only way to stay ahead of the sadness."_ _


	3. The Discovery

A scrawny boy walked the streets of a sleeping city, occasionally being passed by a taxi; he was fiddling with something in his hands that looked like a remote as he looked at his surroundings nervously. The boy wore a dark hoodie over his head and what looked like a baseball cap with the number '9' on the front; he looked extremely familiar but completely strange at the same time as if he was nervous. He walked into an abandoned factory that read, "Queen Industries", and sat down on a metal workbench, still tinkering with the remote in his hands until he snapped something out of place and threw it at the wall in frustration.

"Best way to make it is to start over…" He mumbled as he went to the remains of the remote to collect the pieces and started tinkering again. He glanced to his right and perked up a bit, seeing a pile of metal in the corner of the factory beside a drilling machine. He walked over to the pile of scrap and dove right into his newfound treasure, throwing unneeded pieces over his shoulder while putting the valuable ones in his own pile next to him.

"Is there a-ah! Here's one! Now I just need a- never mind." He said to himself, smiling at his pile of scrap metal until a crash came from the other end of the factory as if something fell. The boy quickly turned around to see where the crash came from and saw three large shadows standing over him, one with a long metal object that resembled a pipe and the other two holding both ends of what appeared to be a chain.

"Well…I-I suppose I'll be going now." The boy shot up and ran towards the office at the other end of the factory; he slammed the door and locked it before the figures could capture him. The boy dragged the desk along the floor to the door, along with filing cabinets, chairs, and a side table while he tried to find another way out of the situation he was in. As he sat and stared at the door, he pulled out some scrap metal and started working on something small that could assist him but was interrupted by pounding on the door.

"Who is it?" He called out to the other side of the door, still tinkering with what was in his hands.

"Boy, open this door so we can kill you!" A gruff voice replied as metal could be heard being banged against the door.

"Boy-open-this-door-so-we-can-kill-you who?" The boy replied as he ran to a window and tried to get it open, the banging continued and just as he opened the window he saw that it had bars on the other side.

"Well, that sucks." He sighed and said to himself as the door crashed against the opposite wall, falling off its hinges, revealing the three figures walking towards the boy.

"If you wanted in, you could have just knocked…" The boy said weakly as a metal pipe came crashing on his head. The three figures stood over the unconscious boy, restraining him with the chains they carried while the larger one spoke like nails being dragged across a blackboard.

"This is the one she mentioned, we shall be greatly rewarded."

* * *

Reyna woke up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night with a gasp for air as she sat up in her bed in Camp Half-Blood trying to remember her dream. She was one of the few demigods that had a terrible time remembering her prophetic dreams. However, she only had one thought... _9._ The number nine jumped around her head as she tried to locate a connection.

_September._

_The Muses._

_The fall to Tartarus._

_Pluto, the ninth planet._

_Hades._

_Greek._

_Camp Half-Blood._

_Cabins._

_1\. Zeus_

_2\. Hera_

_3\. Poseidon_

_4\. Demeter_

_5\. Ares_

_6\. Athena_

_7\. Apollo_

_8\. Artemis_

_**9\. Hephaestus.** _

_Hephaestus' cabin._

For some reason, Reyna felt the need to go to Hephaestus' Cabin…cabin 9. She felt a strange connection to the place so she quickly got dressed and strapped her sword to her waist. She crept out of the Big House towards the only place she knew where people were still awake early in the morning, Poseidon's Cabin. His cabin had become a secret hangout of sorts to their group of friends late at night, where they would talk and make jokes and just spend time together; even if it was against the rules. She walked up to the low building, admiring the coral and seashells that ran around the walls, and quickly knocked eight times, pausing between each four knocks. One knock for each of them. Even though she had not been one of the seven, she was included in their group as she proved important in rallying both of their forces in North America to battle Gaea. After she finished the secret knock, she smirked to herself when she remembered Leo was the one who came up with the idea.

" _We need a secret code! Like a dance, or a signal, or a knock!"_

" _A dance?" Jason looked a bit nervous; he was never good at dancing._

" _Or a knock!" Leo said, very excited about being part of a 'secret club' as he called it when it was really just friends wanting to hang out. He was always a little of an eccentric, but that's what made Leo…Leo._

" _Oh! And maybe we can have shirts! And hats! And our own jackets!"_

" _Leo…" Everyone sighed, facepalmed, and shook their heads._

She knew something was wrong with Leo the day before; she just couldn't place her finger on it and decided to question him some more today. She never knew him as close as Jason and Piper did but still felt like a friend to him, even though he considered _everyone_ his friend.

The door swung open and Reyna looked at the person standing in front of her, Jason Grace. Her previous crush. Jason looked confused, Reyna never hung out at the cabin very much because she was dealing with Camp Jupiter. Reyna also felt shocked, the thought of him being here hadn't occured to her. Since the end of the war, Jason had decided to stay at Camp Half-Blood with Piper; handing over his position in Camp Jupiter to someone else.

"H-hey Reyna, come on in." He whispered, gesturing with his hand into the cabin.

"Thanks, Jason." Reyna replied shortly, not wanting to talk to Jason any longer than absolutely necessary.

Reyna walked into Poseidon's Cabin to see a small circle of her friends, Annabeth with Percy, Hazel with Frank, and Jason plopping down next to Piper. All of them had bags under their eyes but talked animatedly in their own personal conversations until they noticed Reyna sitting down on a bunk bed.

"Hey, Reyna! What's up? We were just talking about some of the pranks the Stolls pulled on Demeter cabin a while back." Percy said, struggling to hide his chuckles as he remembered the time they spray painted every plant blue and blamed it on Percy's love for the same color.

"I just had a strange dream, I think, and thought it would be nice to clear my mind for a bit." She replied, fidgeting with her hands as she tried to remember the dream she had. Something about it told her someone was in trouble, someone from Hephaestus cabin.

"What was the dream? Maybe we can help." Annabeth asked, her hands interlocked with Percy's as she fiddled with the ring on her finger; their engagement ring.

"I…I can't remember. I never could, all I can think of is the number nine." Reyna said, wondering if her friends thought her weird for not remembering her dreams or thinking her insane for worrying about the number nine. Reyna looked around at her friends until she realized something that had been staring all of them in the face. _Where is Valdez?_

"…it could mean a month, September is the ninth month. Maybe something is supposed to happen then?" Reyna jumped back into the conversation as Frank finished his theory on what the number stood for.

"Already thought about it but one thing _is_ bugging me, now." She said, all of them gesturing for her to finish, "Where's Leo?" She always expected Leo to come to these 'secret meetings' (as he called them) because he was so enthusiastic about it.

"Maybe he's asleep? He hasn't come here in the past few weeks actually." Piper said, wondering where Leo Valdez was.

"When was the last time you guys talked to him?" Reyna questioned, wondering why he wasn't here with his friends.

"I talked to him yesterday about the- thing I wanted him to do." Jason caught himself before he revealed his reason for talking to Leo.

"I can't remember when I talked to him." Piper admitted, trying to remember if she talked to him the day before or the day before that.

"He ate lunch with us yesterday before Nico left for Camp Jupiter." Percy said as he played with Annabeth's curls.

"We worked on the _Argo III_ yesterday as well." Annabeth said, remembering their weird conversation on the ship.

Jason stood up, wiping imaginary dirt from his pants and said, "Well let's go to his _cabin_ and ask him why he isn't here! I bet we could use some good laughs as well!" As those words left his mouth, a realization hit the group like a sack of bricks.

"Cabin _Nine_." Annabeth said, all of them wondering if that was what Reyna was dreaming about.

"It's a long shot, but let's not worry about it okay? The number nine is pretty common, it could mean anything." Hazel said, hoping to diffuse the tension in the room.

The friends all silently walked out of the cabin towards cabin nine, hoping not to get caught by the harpies in the process. They weren't surprised at all when the cabin seemed deserted; everyone from there had worked a deal with Chiron where they could work on the _Argo III_ while sleeping on it so they could get it done faster. Percy slowly opened the door to the cabin to see it was clean, by this cabin's standards, but one bed looked untouched; Leo's bed. As he neared the bed he saw that it was as if no one stayed in it at all, the bed was made and there were no signs if someone slept there in days. But what surprised Percy the most was that there seemed to be small items on the bed, like a gift for whoever found them. The group of friends filed in after Percy, the cabin was surprisingly large compared to the other cabins and allowed for more wiggle room. Piper walked past Percy to Leo's bunk and looked at the items on the bed. She looked down at the clean bed to see a small picture held down by a small bronze box and a wrench. Jason slowly walked up to the bunk bed next to Piper and noticed the ring box and quickly pocketed it. He then picked up the wrench and picture in his hands.

The wrench was rusty, worn from use, and had some grease on it while the picture was folded in half. Jason opened the picture and a small piece of notebook paper fell from it onto the bed, Piper picked up the note while Jason and the others looked at the picture. It was of all of them after the war. The seven of them sat around a table laughing and eating a dinner the camp made fit for twenty kings. The picture looked like everyone was having a great time and relaxing. Percy was telling a joke to everyone, Annabeth undoubtedly calling him a "Seaweed Brain", Jason holding hands with Piper, her head on his shoulder, as they laughed, Frank and Hazel hugging as Hazel struggled to contain the liquid in her mouth from laughing, and Reyna looking slightly amused while she ate a piece of steak; the only one missing was Leo. Jason guessed Leo was the one to take the picture as you could see his finger slightly on the lens, covering up half of Percy's body. Jason flipped the picture over and saw that it had messy handwriting but was able to decipher what it said.

"My best friends at Camp Half-Blood." Jason said calmly, wondering when he took the picture and how no one seemed to notice him. Jason looked at Piper to see her eyes watering, tears on the verge of breaking through. "Hey Pipes, what's wrong?"

"And where is Leo?" Frank asked, slightly worried something had happened to him.

"H-he's gone." Piper whispered as Reyna took the note from her hands and read it aloud.

"Dear Whoever decides to read this,"

"Really clever Leo…" Annabeth sighed, smiling slightly.

"It's probably been weeks since you've noticed I've been gone so I'm probably at the place I wanted to be by now. I really don't want to waste your time so I'm just going to say what I wanted to say, well… write I guess, and that's that I'm sorry. Live long and prosper, LV." Reyna finished, trying to decipher the message left by Leo as the others stood silent and listened to her talk.

"Wait, so he was taken?" Jason asked, slowly pulling out his gold coin, "We can't just stay here! He could be in trouble!"

"I don't think he was taken, Jason…" Hazel said quietly, silently asking questions about the letter.

"Well then where is he? What happened to him?" Jason persisted, still confused as to what the letter meant.

"I don't know where he is, but I know he wasn't taken. There is no sign of a struggle; it looks like he took his time." Percy said, putting a hand on Annabeth's shoulder.

"Took his time with what?" Frank questioned as he wondered where his friend was.

"Running away." Annabeth stated, "Leo ran away."


	4. The Kid

Nyssa woke up to a lot of running around on the _Argo III._ She had gone days without a full night's sleep and today was no exception. The dream she had that night still ran through her brain. She dreamt of Hephaestus Cabin being torn down by from an invisible force, almost as if it were coming from the inside. She tried running to the cabin but was being pulled back, like being sucked into a black hole, away from Cabin Nine. She looked behind to see what was pulling her and only saw the _Argo III_ and the rest of her cabin beckoning for her to join them; they were pulling her away from something that she wasn't meant to see. She took one last look at the cabin to see the door open and someone slip out unnoticed, the cabin imploded as soon as the person left. The figure appeared on the hill, walking to the pine tree towards three large shadows with open arms; the person reached the largest shadow and was gone in an instant. Nyssa tried to scream and move but was already on the _Argo III_ , slowly being crushed by the force while hearing a bone chilling laugh that seemed to echo through the world.

She walked out of the captain's quarters to see her entire cabin running around, picking up tools and sleeping pillows, and running as fast as a power tool on full speed towards the cabins. She stopped one of her friends, Jake Mason, to see what the problem was and why everyone was running around.

"What do you mean? No one's told you yet?" Jake yelled, surprised no one had told her about the mysterious problem. _Why would I be asking if I knew what the problem was?_

"No, no one's told me anything. I just woke up. So calm down, and start from the beginning." She tried to calm Jake Mason down since he looked as worried as when he couldn't find his monogrammed screwdriver a few summers ago.

"Okay, so last night Leo's friends went to our cabin to find him; something about not talking to him in a while or something. Anyways, when they went in they found all of his stuff gone. POOF! There were only a few things left on his bed, even his tool set we made him was left on his work bench!" Jake stammered through the story, trying to gather his things and head out the door as Nyssa followed suit.

"So what happened to Leo? Is he okay?" Nyssa questioned, very concerned after remembering her dream last night; hoping it didn't involve her brother.

Jake turned around to face Nyssa as he stood on the ramp that led up to the _Argo III_ with his bed ridden hair, the sun was just over his head and cast a small shadow over his eyes as he said, "Leo ran away. And we're going to go find him." He quickly turned around and ran towards the campers gathering around the Big House and some smaller groups gathering by the cabins.

Nyssa stood motionless on the _Argo III,_ wondering if Leo went with monsters, if he was coerced into going with them to save his friends, or if he was taken by another camper as she didn't see any other way Leo would leave the camp.

She looked at the _Argo III_ , at the bronze work, the white sails, the wooden floor, the carvings on the wall that told of the Seven's journeys and quests, and the plaque that was by the door that led to the Captain's quarters, _"The Argo III, may this ship carry our bodies safe to shore."_ A small flame was painted under those words; along with the initials "LV" to show who put the most work into the creation. Nyssa immediately felt empty inside, they had lost another counselor and this time he _chose_ to leave. It made the act hurt that much more. She turned and slowly walked down the ramp to help with the search for their runaway hero.

* * *

A group of friends sat around a table with a small umbrella shooting out of the middle of the table to shade them from the light snow that was falling from the sky down on the city of Manhattan, they sipped on their hot chocolate and their coffee and talked of their past journeys and adventures; they always did this before the Winter Solstice. It was their tradition to dedicate a month before the meeting of the gods to search for their Runaway Hero, Leo Valdez. Jason and Piper sat next to each other as they chatted with Frank and Hazel about a possible vacation from their busy lives, away from the troubling life of a demigod. Annabeth talked with Reyna about old Rome while Percy sat and stared at the traffic that whistled by, catching bits and pieces of both conversations until he was snapped out of his daze by a marshmallow flying towards his face at a high speed. Percy quickly opened his mouth and ingested the white fluffy substance as Jason began speaking about their vacation.

"Haha! as I was saying, Perce, you and Annabeth should join us on our trip! We're going to Brazil for a bit. A change of scenery would do us all some good." Jason said, wrapping his arm around Piper as she fiddled with her wedding ring.

"I don't know man, we've got a lot going on at the company right now and I can't just leave when I want. Well, I could, but we are on the brink of something _big_! I can feel it in my Seaweed Brain!" Percy leaned forward in his chair as he sipped his coffee and took a bite of a blueberry muffin.

"Well, I'm sure your company can manage a few days without you, can't it? You can take a break, have some fun like old times, and come back so you can work on your water stuff." Frank said, interlocking his hands with Hazel's.

"One, its water purification not just 'water stuff'! And two, I still have fun!" Percy retorted as he tossed the last of his muffin into the air and caught it in his mouth. "See?" He tried to say but bits of the muffin launched out of his mouth and onto the table, he quickly finished what was in his mouth as the others stopped their laughing.

"Ya know you can come along if you want Reyna. I think it would be nice for you to do something other than search for a change." Piper said concern in her voice for her friend.

"I can't, I still have to…" Reyna started but was interrupted by Piper putting her hand on Reyna's arm.

"I know, but it's been _six years_ Reyna. We aren't that much closer but I'm not saying you have to give up; none of us will. I'm just saying I think you could use a break." Piper insisted, remembering how hard Leo leaving had been on all of them.

Percy sat and watched his group of friends as he remembered how the last six years of their life went by without Leo. As soon as Leo's disappearance was discovered, everyone began the search for the Hero of Olympus; even the gods and goddesses. Olympus, Camp Half-Blood, The Hunters, the Amazonians, Camp Jupiter, and even Camp Fish-Blood searched the four corners of the Earth for Leo Valdez.

After the second year, the gods and Camp Fish-Blood eventually stopped diverting all of their resources towards the search for him and back to their regular routine; though still keeping an eye out for him. During the third year they had gotten a sliver of hope when a satyr spotted a person that fit Leo's description near Detroit. He was also spotted near Los Angeles but the weird thing was that it was a day after his sighting in Detroit; no one could move that fast on foot even if they had a Pegasus.

After the fourth year, only his close friends kept up the search but only for one or two full months out of the year instead of constant searching. Hephaestus cabin rarely came out of the workshop or their cabin, mourning the loss of another of their counselors, and trying to overcome the resurfaced curse that had fallen on their cabin. Some believed there was no curse of cabin nine at all; it was all just in their head to try to cope with the loss of another counselor. Hephaestus children stopped popping up altogether. The Blacksmith God had been unable to have any children after his favorite son had left, even with the help of his wife who could not stand to see her husband so miserable. Some campers grew bitter towards the hero, believing he was doing this to gain attention or try and overthrow Olympus; their claims were silenced swiftly by other campers.

It seemed it was only yesterday they were all on the _Argo II_ on their way to Greece to stop Gaia, only yesterday…

"He has to slip up some time guys, remember when he was spotted near Detroit? Or how about LA? Or what about Pittsburgh a few months back? We'll find him eventually, we have to." Jason said, trying to convince his friends, along with himself, that there was still hope in finding their friend.

After finishing their drinks and snacks, the group started walking down the streets of Manhattan towards one of Percy and Annabeth's apartments. Despite the situation of their meeting, the group was in high spirits that one day they would find Leo, and one day they would all be happy together…whether Leo wanted it or not. They passed by a middle school letting out, with seventh and eighth graders running around towards the busses and parent's cars to get home. The group of childhood friends remembered when they were younger and were just discovering they were half-bloods, it was frightening and fun at the same time. As they rounded the corner of a street the group was split in two by a blur of blue followed by three more blurs as if they were chasing the first. Just as Frank was about to complain about manners in the city he was interrupted by the yelling of one of the blurs that was directed to the first.

"VALDEZ! GET BACK HERE!"

The group immediately looked at each other and sprinted off after the group that appeared to be kids in middle school. They ducked and weaved between alleys, trying to pass the chasers while trying to follow the first one at the same time. Jason caught up to one of the chasers and pulled him back as the others raced passed them.

"You're going to go home, do your homework, and leave that kid alone. Understand?" Jason said, making electricity arc around his eyes to add effect. The kid stammered a "yes sir" as he sprinted off in the other direction yelling about something called a Bioshock.

Piper caught up to the next one as she put her hand on his should and used charmspeak to calm him down, "Would you be a dear and go home for a bit? You look extremely tired and you could use some rest, why not eat some donuts or something?" She said, hoping her friends had caught up to the last one.

Frank caught the last one has he simply turned him around mid-run and said "Go home kid." In a stern voice, channeling his inner Mars, making the kid whimper and back away from Frank towards his house.

Percy, Annabeth, Hazel, and Reyna had caught up to the first blur to see where he was going and they finally got a good look at him as he hid behind a hot dog cart. He wore a blue hoodie with orange and red flames on the sleeves, cargo shorts that looked worn and passed down to him from someone older than him, tan skin that looked like caramel, and a mop of black hair that wasn't curly like Leo's but very untamed like Percy's. He sat behind the cart for a good five minutes before sighing in relief and walking down an alley, looking around him nervously.

Right as he turned onto the street from the alley, Jason, Piper, and Frank caught up with their group as they followed him deeper into the city until they came into the "less maintained" area of town. There were some abandoned apartment complexes and houses as well as one small hotel in this area of the city although not many people ventured to this part of town as they deemed it "unsafe" and a possible suicide mission thanks to the gang activity. The boy walked down the street with his hands in his pockets towards the abandoned hotel. As he opened the door to the hotel, the group decided now would be as good a time as any to follow him into the mysterious hotel. As they started walking towards it, however; they seemed to slow down like they were carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders.

"Wh-what's happening?" Hazel said, struggling to walk straight until she started leaning onto Frank for support.

"I-it's the Mist. It's trying to get us to turn away, push through." Annabeth struggled to say as she was the closest to the hotel. As the group came to the hotel doors, they read a sign that said, "Obey the rules and you may stay. LV." The effect the Mist had on the group seemed to dissipate as they opened the door to the hotel, it had a cherry red carpet shining on the floor that led to the reception desk, surprising clean floors despite the occasional toy or piece of paper lying about on it, clean windows that let the sun shine brightly into the lobby, bright paintings that looked like a 5 year old painted with their hands, soft piano music playing from another room rang through the hotel, and a few kids walking around that ranged from five to eighteen years old. As they neared the reception desk they saw one girl, about 17 years old, sitting on the desk eating some chips and a boy about 18 years old siting behind it writing something down.

"What's a four-letter word for…stop right there!" The boy yelled as he noticed the group walking into the hotel unescorted.

"Halt?" The girl offered; looking slightly confused at the boy and his outburst.

The boy stood up from his desk and walked around to greet the new people, he had extremely red hair that rivaled Rachel Elizabeth Dare's but hung down on his forehead just above his eyes, freckles covering his entire nose and cheek area, bright blue eyes that resembled the sky on a sunny day with no clouds, and a long bronze sword strapped to his side that shined from the light.

"How'd you get here, what do you want, and do you want to live?"

"Oh be nice Ronald, why not welcome them and show them around? I mean really, why are you so grumpy all the time?" The girl questioned, turning to face the group while she sat on the desk, she had long blonde hair that looked like a thousand golden drachmas, dark brown eyes that resembled milk chocolate and one small scar on her left cheek. She had a bow resting on her right, painted red and orange with flames, and a full quiver of brightly colored arrows resting on the desk next to the bow.

"Because, Izzy, I was assigned to guard the place by him! And what did I tell you about calling me Ronald? I told you to call me Ron." The boy asked, looking slightly annoyed by the girl who stuck her tongue out at him.

"You know you like it."

"No, I most certainly don't."

"Yea-huh."

" _No_. I don't."

"Yes huh."

"Nuh-huh."

"Okay listen, we just want to talk to that kid who just walked in." Annabeth said, pinching the bridge of her nose as she tried to calm down from the bickering in front of her.

"No one's talking to anybody; we don't know who you are and what you want. So you can either leave or I can make you." Ron said, pulling his sword from his waist as Isabel hopped down from the desk.

"What he meant to say was, we don't get a lot of new people here and would appreciate it if you could tell us who you are and how you got here." Isabel said as she lowered Ron's arm, she had a smile on her face that would cause the Minotaur to love her.

"I'm Piper, this is Jason, _my husband_ ," Piper added quickly, noticing the look in the girl's eye, "this is Annabeth and Percy, Frank and Hazel, and Reyna. We just want to ask the boy who walked in here a few minutes ago some questions. We are looking for someone and we think he could help us, could you go get him please?" Piper said, trying to add charmspeak to her voice. She never used it unless absolutely necessary. Seeing as how this involved Leo...she deemed it necessary.

"Don't try to charmspeak us. It won't work here." Ron sternly stated as he stepped forward, Jason jumping right in front of Piper to defend her in the process.

"Look, we can go get him. Just tell us his name and we'll send for him, but you talk right in front of us and he doesn't leave the hotel. Okay? That seems fair, right?" Isabel said, trying to calm Ron and Jason down and work out a compromise.

"She's right guys." Frank said to his friends before turning back to Izzy, "We only know his last name, Valdez. He has a hoodie with flames, and a mop of black hair." Frank answered, not wanting to have any conflict with the young teenagers.

"Matt?" Ron questioned, lowering his guard and looking at Frank.

"Okay, but don't forget the rules we stated earlier." Ron stared at Frank until he nodded, then at the group as they nodded in compliance, "Okay then," he turned to Izzy, "Go get Matt okay?" Isabel nodded and ran down the hallway to the right calling for Matt. They waited for a few minutes in awkward silence before Matt was walking towards the group with a smile plastered on his face.

"Did my girl scout cookies come in yet?" He said as he put his arm around Isabel, who slid it off just as quick.

"Are you Valdez?" Jason said, seeing a slight resemblance to Leo.

"Yea, I'm Matthew Valdez. Did I do something wrong again? Because I swear, it wasn't me! Unless it involved hamsters, haha now _that_ was me." He laughed, his eyes looking over everyone in the conversation.

"You wouldn't happen to be related to a Leo Valdez would you?" Piper asked, wondering if and how they could be related.

"Yea I am!" Matt puffed out his chest, "He's my dad!" he finished as he began smiling at the shocked group in front of him.


	5. The Conference Room

The group stood silenced as they stared at a boy puffing out his chest, saying he was Leo's son.

"W-WHAT?!" Piper yelled, completely confused by the situation that was in front of her.

"What do you mean you're his _kid_?" Annabeth asked, seeing as how the only way Leo could have had a kid was if he met someone way before he left.

Jason stepped forward and did something unexpected, he hugged Matt.

"Welcome to the family, I'm Jason Grace." He said as he released Matt from his titan-like bear hug. Matt seemed stunned by his action; he backed away slowly from Jason and kept staring at the group as he stuttered a response.

"Y-you? _You're_ Jason Grace? _You_ are the ones he talked about?" Matt questioned, completely stunned by his slip up. He should have known it was them; they still looked the same from the picture…

"You know us?" Percy asked, trying to keep up with the information being transferred back and forth between the groups.

"Whoa, you know these guys Matt?" Ronald asked, stepping next to Matt as he was lost in his thoughts.

"Y-you don't recognize them?" Matt whispered, barely audible so that only Ron and Izzy could hear him.

"No, should we?" Izzy pondered, slowly reaching for her bow.

"F-follow me, but _watch_ them." Matt commanded as he started walking down the hall to the left, passing by a few children coloring a battle of monsters on the walls.

Ronald motioned with his sword for the group to follow Matt, as they filed down the hall he followed; keeping a firm grip on his sword. Matt was hardly the paranoid type so he figured that would be a good enough reason to keep his guard on high.

They followed Matt and passed room numbers; 102, 103, 104, 105 and so on.

"Where is room 101?" Reyna asked, her ADHD slightly acting up.

"Oh that's where we—" Izzy started but was interrupted by Ronald, whom seemed on high alert.

"Do not divulge our military secrets, Izzy!" He said as he gritted his teeth.

"They aren't really _military_ secrets now are they _Ronald_?"

"Don't call me—"

"Anyways, that's where we travel and where he stays whenever he shows up!" Izzy replied, seeming slightly hyper and excited at the mention of _him_.

"Travel?" Frank was confused as to how someone could travel via a room.

"Where who stays?" Hazel asked, remembering some of her past from the architecture that the hotel had.

"Well, Mr. Valdez of course!" Izzy screamed, extremely jumpy from the conversation but in the same way a five-year-old seems jumpy from talking about his/her Lego collection.

"Izzy, he doesn't like it when you call him _Mr. Valdez_ …" Ronald sighed, letting his guard lower just a little bit. He was still mad at being called Ronald.

"Mr. Valdez?" Percy questioned, stepping over some toddlers playing a board game on the floor.

"I WIN AGAIN!" One screamed as the other pouted, wiping the board clean to start a new round.

"Leo Valdez, the guy who helped us!" Izzy answered matter-of-factly, ignoring the paper airplane that was in a head-on collision with Annabeth.

"OW!" Annabeth screamed as she was surprised to find an airplane lodged in her hair, Percy untangled it and threw it with grace back to the thrower; flashing him a mischievous smile in the process.

"We're here." Matt said, opening a door that read _Conference Room_ _#120_. He walked in and immediately opened the mini fridge, pulling out two 2-liter bottles of a red liquid labeled "DO NOT TOUCH." The room itself was rather plain, it had a large wooden table in the middle, a few counters in the corner that held a mini fridge, a coffee pot, a few racks of chips, and some silverware. It also had a 32 inch TV positioned on the opposite side of the room with a small webcam sitting on top of it. The group filed in and took seats next to each other around the table, Matt taking the head of the table next to Izzy as Ron was the last one in as he closed the door and leaned up against it, eyeing the group cautiously.

"What is _that_?" Piper questioned as she sat next to Jason, seeing a resemblance to blood. She really hoped what she saw in scary movies wasn't going to happen to them, but she sighed in relief when Matt explained.

"Calm down, Piper," Matt said with a smile on his face, "It's just red cream soda. It's our favorite!" Matt explained, pouring three glasses of cream soda and then downing them all.

Izzy just smiled at Matt and his obsession with cream soda while Ron cleared his throat, "Ahem, Matt?"

"Hm? Yea?" He mumbled as he downed another glass.

"Why are we here?" Ron shot back, obviously annoyed with the boy and his drink.

Matt wiped his mouth with his sleeve and stood up, clapping his hands together, "Yes, right, sorry. Well the question on how I know you can be answered just by showing you something." He walked over to a counter and opened a drawer, pulling out a small picture. It was the same picture Leo had left at Camp Half-Blood the night he left.

"Th-that's the picture. How did you get it?" Piper asked, confused as she thought they had the only copy of that picture.

"He gave it to me, something about knowing where he came from. Anyways, he'll be around here soon enough." Matt replied, pouring another glass of soda which effectively finished one bottle.

"No he isn't Matthew, it's not time yet. He never comes by during December, you know that." Izzy said, silently sipping on her own glass that she stole from Matt.

"Oh he'll come around, hopefully." Matt added, raising his eyebrows and smiling reassuringly. He took out a small bronze cube and pushed a red button on it, causing a loud beep to resonate throughout the entire hotel, "There, he should be here in about 30 minutes." He pocketed the item and leaned back in his chair, opening up the next bottle and taking swigs out of it every once in a while.

"Well okay, we want answers. One, how can you be his son?" Reyna said, leaning against counter that held the chips, she opened one and started nibbling on a few pieces.

"Yea, you're way too old to be his son. Wait, how old _are_ you anyways?" Annabeth asked, trying to pinpoint an age for Matt. He seemed really young physically but mentally he seemed mature, probably about 16 or 17. She was interrupted from her thoughts as Matt belched, smiled, and said "'cuse me!" Okay, so those guesses dropped down to 5 or 6 years old.

"I'm twelve, and about him being my dad…that's true but not true at the same time." He said, noticing the group's confusion he quickly added, "I kind of adopted him as my dad. He took us in when we needed help; I took his last name a while back. He didn't seem to care, but I could tell he liked it." He smiled a bit, reminiscing about something then quickly turning his attention back to the group, "Others just kept their last name but treated him like their dad. After all he's done for us, it's the least we could do to treat him like our father."

"Wait, what do you mean _everyone_?" Jason asked he had only seen the three in front of him and about four others outside the room. He was completely confused as to how this hotel had gone unnoticed by other people, or why it hadn't been bought by some large corporation to be demolished but he then remembered it was covered in heavy amounts of Mist.

"Everyone he helps, people like us." Izzy said, gesturing to the trio.

"People like you?" Percy questioned instantly, spotting Matt rip up bits of a napkin and smiling.

"Runaways, outcasts, third-wheels, ya know…the cool ones!" Matt exclaimed, running his hand through his hair.

"How many of you are there?" Piper asked, feeling somewhat proud Leo would do something like this even though he left his friends at camp.

"At this place specifically, there are about 50 who stay here permanently and another twenty or so drifters." Ronald asked, lowering his guard a bit.

"This place? How many are there? And are you all half-bloods? Who are your godly parents?" Annabeth shot questions like an anti-air weapon, swift and no pauses in between.

"Woah calm down lady!" Matt exclaimed as he got up, threw the bits of napkin in the air like confetti and ran around the room like a rabid squirrel screaming "WOOO!"

"Sorry about that, he gets a little crazy when he drinks cream soda…." Izzy started but was interrupted before she finished.

"WOO! I GET CRAZY? YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN HER AT THE CHRISTMAS PARTY! REMEMBER WHEN YOU AND VINCE TRIED TO— _oomph_." He started screaming but was interrupted by Ron tripping him as he ran past, causing him to fall gently to the soft carpet. He shot back up immediately and tried climbing on the counters next to Reyna, who backed away slowly towards her friends.

"Yea, he really shouldn't have drunk all of the cream soda." Ron sighed, obviously used to Matt's antics.

"Is he always like this?" Reyna questioned, ready to catch Matt if he fell from the top of the mini fridge he had just climbed.

"He seemed nervous so I'm not surprised he drank soda. It calms him down, ironically." Ron shrugged his shoulders as he kept a watchful eye on Jason.

"Matthew Valdez, get down from there or I'll—" Izzy scolded but was startled to see Matt fall from the fridge, to be caught by Reyna and placed down at his chair, instantly falling asleep.

"Anyways," Izzy seemed a bit shaken up from the incident but continued, "We don't know how many places he has, we only know of two other ones. One is for Half-Bloods in LA and another is for mortals somewhere in Queens." Izzy answered, patting an exhausted Matt who was passed out on the chair next to her, quietly muttering something he was dreaming about.

"Ducks….get…away…" Matt swatted slowly through the air, like he was pushing a giant duck away from something, his hand was brought slowly back to the table by Izzy who was smiling softly at Matt.

"Yea, we're half-bloods. Some of us stick around here and train; others only stay a little bit then go to Camp-Half Blood or Camp Jupiter, depending on where you are. On some rare occasions they come back and train the regulars here." Izzy said, after softly shushing Matt from talking about the ducks getting his pizza.

"As for our godly parents, I'm a son of Ares and—" Ron huffed but was interrupted by a giddy Izzy.

"I'm a daughter of Apollo!" Izzy sang as she flashed a blinding smile, "Matthew doesn't know his parent yet, either that or he won't tell us." She sighed as she moved a few strands of Matt's hair out of his face.

"My money's on Hermes." Percy said, becoming a bit more comfortable with the group as he walked over to the counters to find something to snack on. He opened the fridge up to see cream soda out the wahzoo, a few bags of marshmallows, and a few bags of jelly beans. He immediately grabbed two bags of jelly beans, walked back to his chair next to Annabeth, and started eating the blue ones.

"Seaweed Brain…" Annabeth sighed, putting her hand on her face and smiling at Percy's love of the color blue. A loud noise rang through the hotel that sounded like a cross between a factory running and stone sliding across stone. As soon as the sound started running through the halls of the hotel, Matt woke up instantly with wide eyes, shooting out of his chair and running out the door after yelling, "DAD'S HERE!"

"Well I suppose we should follow him before he gets into trouble…" Ron huffed as he walked out the door towards Matt and the yelling.

"As if you can stop him from getting into trouble Ronald!" Izzy yelled at Ron as he left the room she stood up and headed for the door then turned around, "Come on then! It's time for you to meet Mr. Valdez!" She motioned for them to follow her as she skipped out the door singing.

"Well…" Jason sighed as he lifted himself up from the chair, "Let's go meet _Mr. Valdez_." They walked out the door down the hall towards the singing and yelling, wondering what had become of their lost friend.

* * *

As they walked down the halls that seemed to now be deserted, they started talking on how to handle talking to Leo.

"What if he hates us?"

"What? Valdez? Hate _us_? How could he?"

"Well he has to come back…"

"We can't pry him from the kids; they need him just as much as we need him."

"Just bring them to camp, it'll be fine."

"Actually, that's not a bad idea."

"What about the mortals they mentioned?"

"They have mortal orphanages, even camps year round in Oklahoma."

They walked to the lobby to see Izzy waving her hand at them as she walked into room 101. The group filed in to see the living conditions in the room and was horrified at them since there were hardly any. The room itself was rather large with red curtains on the windows, soft carpet with some stains in areas that looked like grease…or blood. The bed was a messy king sized one with a single pillow and a small blanket; there were flame designs all over the room as well as some tools one might find in a repair shop. On one wall there were strange drawings of inventions and designs that ranged from a rocket propelled marshmallow gun to a way to tame hellhounds with a cleverly created collar. There was a coat hanger in the corner of the room with two trench coats, a fedora, and a baseball cap with flames on it and the number 9 on the front. All in all, the room was an exact replica of Cabin 9. Except for one design that sent chills down Percy and Annabeth's bones… a delta, Δ, that glowed blue in a small crevice in the wall.

As they looked around the room, seeing Ron leaning against the wall, Izzy playing with her hair, and Matt barely able to stand still, the only barren wall moved. It opened to reveal a black rectangular shaped hole, the group stared at the opening in anticipation and nervousness as a man stumbled out from the darkness.

"Whew! Sorry, I was late," The man coughed as he looked at the room and cleaned some dirt from his pants and shoulders, "Where's the trouble?" He asked Matt, Izzy and Ron.

Izzy looked at the man innocently, Ron just huffed, and Matt stuttered out an answer, "Ha-ha, a-about that…yea there may not have been trouble." He rushed through the last part.

"Matthew, you of all people _know_ I don't like coming to New York during the winter…" He looked at Matt sternly then the dam broke, he cracked a smile.

"So, why'd ya call? Wanted to hang out? That's fine, just next time don't go setting off the alarms like….last….time…" The man looked around the room to see the group of friends watching him with teary eyes and open mouths.

"L-Leo?" Piper asked, covering her mouth as tears began to well up in her eyes.

"Hey Pipes." The man waved his hand slowly then made a break for the opening in the wall to see it had already closed, "Damn." He quietly cursed as he slowly turned around to face his past.

"Leo Valdez, you have got some explaining to do." Reyna said as she stepped forward, looking extremely angry but the anger melted away after a few tense seconds when she pulled Leo into a bear hug, "Where have you been!" The group questioned as they joined in on the hug with their lost friend.


	6. The Antique Shop

"Okay, I'm as much of a fan of these big group hugs as the next guy but I do like my personal space." Leo said with his voice muffled from his friends hugging the life out of their lost companion.

The friends detached themselves and smiled at an uncomfortable Leo, who rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at the ground with a forced smile on his face. He never came to accept the fact that his friends never wanted him, but the last time they showed this much affection...well, they _never_ did.

After the group had regained their composure, Piper walked up to Leo with a stern look on her face. She pulled her hand back while Leo straightened and looked her directly in the eyes, readying himself for what was to come next... _SMACK!_

"Do you know how worried we were!" Piper screamed as she pulled her hand back to slap Leo on his already red face a second time before he spoke and raising his hand to signal a stop; catching her off guard.

"Just follow me, I'll explain..." He put his hand on Matt's shoulder and ushered the group, along with Izzy and Ron, to follow him to another part of the hotel.

The group walked in complete silence as they followed Leo to the edge of the hotel limits, the farther they went into the hotel the worse the hotel itself looked. The paint was fading, there was garbage thrown all over the floor, even a few pieces of furniture in the hallway that required for them to climb over it, as well as graffiti on the walls until they came to an abrupt stop.

"What the-" Percy started as he bumped into Piper, unaware of his friends stopping in front of him to marvel at a door in the middle of the hallway.

The door in front of them was obviously built by someone else, it was a patchwork of different types of metal that were heated to form two thick double doors, they were chained together with a pure black chain and a rather large black lock that had three key holes. Leo walked up to it and placed his hand on the door as the group watched their friend look solemnly at the door. Finally, it was Matt that spoke up to ask the question that was nagging in the back of all of their minds.

"Uh dad?" He asked in a whisper, but still loud enough for everyone to hear

"Mhm." Was Leo's only response as he stared at the door as if remembering a long forgotten and sad memory.

"W-what are we doing here? We're not supposed to travel this far into the hotel." Matt questioned as he walked up to his father figure and saw a much more vulnerable version of Leo Valdez. There was never an answer to the question as Leo exhaled heavily and equipped a small gray key, unlocking the first keyhole with a loud _CLICK._ As the click rang through the hall, the door, lock, and chain changed color to a dark mixture of what appeared to be orange and gold.

"Matt, give me your necklace." Leo held out his hand as Matt reluctantly removed his necklace he had gotten from his first birthday at the hotel with everyone. It was a golden flame with the letter 'V' engraved on it, the golden necklace seemed to glow faintly as it entered Leo's rough hands.

The repair boy slowly traced the 'V' on the necklace, allowing it to transform into its true form, the necklace grew into the shape of a golden key as Leo unlocked the second with an equally loud _CLICK_ ; the door, lock, and chain turning into a dark bronze color.

"H-how did you do that?" Matt asked, astonished at the necklace he had been wearing as long as he can remember.

"I've learned a lot and have shown you little. When you're ready, I'll teach you to be greater than I ever could be." Leo looked at Matt with sadness in his eyes but truly promised to teach Matt everything he knew; and more.

"No one's as good as you! You're amazing! The greatest son of Hephaestus there ever was! No way could I do half the stuff you have!" Matt slightly yelled, looking worried and not used to the serious situation that lay before him.

A small smile graced Leo's face as he looked into the eyes of his favorite child, "I know someone who was just like you, except you're so much more." Leo then turned to his old friends and said sternly, "Which one of you has it?"

"W-what do you mean?" Hazel asked, looking into the eyes of her friend.

"The wrench, which one of you has it?" He asked again, slightly annoyed.

"What wrench?" Percy questioned, wondering if he meant the wrench he left ages ago.

"The wrench I left, don't bother hiding it. I can sense it on one of you." At this point Reyna stepped forward and opened up her bag she had been carrying, pulling out the exact same wrench Leo had left on his bunk when he left a long, long time ago. He looked into the dark brown eyes of Reyna's for a moment then turned toward the door once more to open the double doors in front of them.

"Thank you." He mumbled before whispering something to the wrench, "πλήκτρο", the Grecian word for "key". The wrench glowed slightly as it formed a small bronze key. Matt looked surprised again at Leo's creation as the lonely mechanic unlocked the final lock on the bronze double doors. Leo stopped for a moment as the chain and lock fell to the ground with a loud _CLANK_ , he then removed the keys as they transformed to their original states and handed them back to Reyna and Matt.

Leo pushed open the now black double doors to reveal the most run down section of the entire hotel, graffiti painted heavily on the walls, garbage everywhere, and large drums that looked like they were used as a fire pit.

The group stepped into the room, noticing there were sleeping bags on the ground along with some toys for small children.

Frank stepped in and almost slipped from a grease spot on the ground, "Whoa!" he yelled before finally losing his balance and falling to the ground. He looked over to his left and saw a dusty and broken grand piano with graffiti on it as well.

"A ballroom?" He guessed as Ron and Jason helped him up from the ground.

"A long time ago..." Leo said as he looked at a corner of the room that had a burnt sleeping bag on the ground. "Help me with this." he commanded as the group moved a few of the chairs around into a small circle and putting the least destroyed table in the middle. The group sat down and looked awkwardly at each other, wondering what was going through Leo's head as he stared at a spot on the table as if remembering something.

"Uhhh Leo? What are we-" Piper asked but was interrupted by Leo coming out of his dazed state.

"I'm going to tell you a story, it's a long one but it's about what I've been doing these past years...as well as what I am going to do." He said the last part quietly as the group leaned inward; eager to listen to their friend's tale.

* * *

Leo walked away from Camp Half-Blood with a mixture of emotions rolling around inside his head, leaving him a bit out of his mind; more than usual.

_You're a loner. You'll never find anyone._

_That's not true, you found her._

_She doesn't care, she barely talks to you. Show them why fire users are feared._

_Stop! Just stop it! Stop suggesting that!_

_The option is always there..._

He felt guilty for leaving his friends, even though they disregarded him like a broken toy, because he would always care for them no matter what. He was loyal, not to Percy's extent, but loyal till the end. He felt depressed from wasting time at Camp, from being the outsider, from being a loser. He never really considered himself depressed but finally came to the sudden realization a few days ago when he found himself staring at the stars for the entire night; thinking about his life.

_Why do you just sit there? No wonder no one wants to talk to you. You do nothing but work._

_But work is all I have._

_Have you even built anything by yourself? You didn't build Festus, you didn't build the Argo II or III alone. The only thing you're worth is sarcastic comments and poor humor you use to create your cheap facade of strength and confidence._

Despite all of the horrible feelings he had jumbled inside his curly haired head, he felt a strange sense of freedom as he walked towards the city. For one of the few times in his life, he felt free from everything. Free from his friends scolding and disappointing him. Free from his duties as Cabin Counselor for Hephaestus Cabin. Free from all responsibility...

He entered the city as it started to rain, not a light drizzle but a downpour, and ducked into a small shop on the corner; he didn't notice the single eye on the sign as he walked in.

He entered the shop to see that he had stumbled upon an antique shop, meaning that there were piles of scrap, swords hanging on the walls, armor stands with beautiful ornamental chest-plates and helms, as well as a few guns and odd contraptions on shelves that lined the store like a large library.

"Woah." He said as he inspected the engravings on an old American Revolution cannon, a lightning bolt. Did a son of Zeus fight in the American Revolution? Did Zeus pity his son like Thalia and instead of a pine tree did he turn him into a cannon? What if-

Leo's thoughts were interrupted by the backroom door opening swiftly, effectively slamming into the wall as it opened, revealing a large man with long brown hair covering his face standing in the doorway. He wore dusty suspenders, charred jeans, a sweat and grease covered shirt, and a bowler hat.

"Fine cannon...I remember when Molly Pitcher used that to fight off the British. Quite ironic that a child of Zeus would want to fight a king, don't you think?" He asked, leaning against a shelf that held a helmet that was labeled "Attila The Hun".

"Wh-what is this place?" Leo questioned, noticing more and more ancient artifacts ranging from different time periods.

"My collection. I guess you could say I'm a hoarder of sorts." The man smiled evilly, slowly moving closer to Leo.

"I'll say. You, my friend, need help." Leo replied, noticing a sword on the wall with an owl engraved on it, "Where did you get these anyways? Comic-Con?" He asked, genuinely interested.

"That's the best part...I took them." He slowly gripped a blunderbuss with the symbol of Ares on it.

"Well that's cool, but I should probably go. I have another appointment with a kleptomaniac across town and I don't think he'd like me if I was late." Leo started for the door quickly but the man rushed to block his path.

"You won't be leaving Leo Valdez." The man smoothly said, sending chills down Leo's spine. His voice was like nails on a chalkboard but it almost sounded like...

He was interrupted when the man aimed his blunderbuss and shot at Leo, luckily Leo rolled to the left just in time to hide behind a shelf of assorted jewelry.

"Watch it! You could have shot me!" Leo cried, observing any other way out as he ducked behind another shelf with scraps of metal.

"Leo, come out! We just want to talk!" The voice called, he sounded just like Piper...

_What are they doing here?_

"Yea come on man! We took care of big ugly, where are you?" Jason's voice rang through the store.

_Jason too! They came back for me!_

Leo walked out from behind the shelf looking for his friends, only to see the man with the blunderbuss and a large sword at his side.

"Ha, they always fall for that one!" The man yelled, running towards Leo as he leveled his gun.

Leo dove behind another shelf that held more antiques as he thought of a battle plan while trying to avoid and his friends' voices. He caught a glimpse of the man in front of the shelf Leo was hiding behind, he used all of his might to push the heavy wooden shelf over onto the man; effectively knocking him down.

As Leo ran through the store to the door he saw the man's hat had been knocked off to reveal a single giant blue eye on his face.

"Leo Valdez! I would have made your death swift! But now you'll suffer, along with your friends!" The cyclops yelled as he struggled to push the heavy shelf off of him.

"What? No 'Thank you! Come again!'?" Leo retorted as he ran towards the door and out of the antique store.

_A cyclops! Just my luck!_

_You should have killed him, painfully._

_What is wrong with you?_

Leo was down the street and could still hear the curses and vows for revenge from the cyclops, the lonely mechanic made his way deeper into the city for a place to stay for a few nights; unaware of the cyclops calling someone for help.


	7. The Factory

Leo paused for a moment to look at the faces of his old friends after telling just the beginning of his tale.

Annabeth had a calculating look, like she usually did in these situations, as she analyzed every detail and description Leo gave them. Luckily they couldn't hear his thoughts back then or they would worry; more than they did before. They'd think he was crazy, they'd try to help him...he didn't need help. He was fine with being alone, with being a lonely repair-boy.

Percy had a mixture of emotions, he looked as if he wasn't paying attention but he always did. He looked like he was worried, proud, sympathetic, and some other emotion...Leo couldn't pin it down yet.

Piper was listening intently, wanting to know where her friend had been all these years, the same as Jason. Frank had an arm placed protectively around Hazel as they listened, commenting silently to themselves as well as providing their theories on where the object came from as Leo told of the antique shop and the monster.

Reyna looked peaceful, like a person being painted, her dark brown eyes looked deep into Leo's; trying to read past the mechanic's cool face. Ron, Izzy, and Matt all looked passive as they had known Leo for a long time and were worried about what had happened to him but they were also amazed at how Leo handled situations; they had only heard myths from the other orphans about what Leo had done.

_They are already worried to the max, and it's just the beginning..._

_They aren't worried, they are just waiting to tell you that you're making it up. How your imagination is going wild and how you are looking for attention...pathetic._

_What are you doing here?_

Leo was stunned, he thought the voice had disappeared from his mind so long ago. The fact that it was back brought an uneasy feeling to his stomach; especially after how their last conversation ended. He had had time to think about the voice in his free time and had figured out its origin, he was not thrilled to find out to who the voice belonged to. He preferred to think he was insane than know the truth, if she could do that to him at a distance then he was frightened at what she would do in person.

"Um...Leo?" Izzy asked, noticing her mentor in deep thought and thus interrupted his train of thought.

"Oh, um sorry. Just...just thinking about something." Leo said, looking warmly at Izzy. He had a soft spot for her, she kept her friends together as she was the voice of reason when Matt and Ron would argue or fight.

"What happened after the antique shop?" Matt asked, completely intrigued by his father's tale.

"Yea, um the antique shop. Um, let me think, ah yes after I left that place I headed towards an abandoned factory to look for a place to stay and for some tools..." Leo started again, remembering what happened clearly despite it happening so long ago.

* * *

Leo walked the sleeping streets of the city, a hood over his baseball cap that he wore, hands tinkering with a small object he thought would come in handy if needed. It looked like a small remote, which it was, but it only had one button on it and he intended to use it only in dire situations. He walked past a dark and dirty alley and was so engrossed in his invention that he failed to notice three large figures rummaging through an overturned dumpster.

The repair-boy kept walking through the city but had the strange sensation that someone was watching him, every time he would turn around no one would be there except for maybe a pizza guy delivering to some house or apartment. Leo wasn't sure where he was going, all he was focusing on was his invention.

He tried to keep his mind off the cyclops and how it mimicked Jason and Piper's voices, he tried to keep his mind off the fact that even though he accepted he was the seventh wheel; he still had hope. Eventually, it got near the ungodly hours where the only people awake were the ones looking for trouble so Leo decided to turn in, the first problem was _where_ he would stay. Soon he found an abandoned factory that was labeled _"Queen Industries"_.

_As good of a place as any, I guess._

_You know, you could stay with your friends. Oh, sorry...you don't have any._

_Yes, I do!_

_Name them..._

Leo Valdez walked up to the factory, he didn't know why it was abandoned and didn't really care but he saw the gate was locked with three chains and each with three locks on them.

"A bit overboard, don't you think?" Leo quietly said to himself as he rubbed his hands together to try and melt the locks away with his fire. He hadn't used his powers in so long, he wondered if they still even worked. The lonely mechanic cleared his mind of everything, focusing only on the warmth he sensed around him; his body, the nearby fire pit that was still smoking as if some homeless people let it burn out, the warmth of her smile...he shook his head as the thought of his previous home entered his mind.

_Just, just clear your head. You can do this._

_No, you can't, you're a lighter running on your last bit of fuel._

The lonely mechanic rubbed his hands together faster than before, even blowing hot air on them to try and make sure he could get a flame, and after a few moments, he succeeded. His hands burst into flames, burning intensely as he starred at what he had done. The flames inside of him beckoned to be called forth, wanting to be released from him, but Leo focused and kept the flames from spreading to the rest of his body. Leo moved his burning hands to the first three locks and attempted to increase the intensity of his flame.

_Come on Leo, think warm thoughts. The desert, the sun, a forge, a barbecue, a grill._

_A burning corpse, a burn for revenge, a forest fire that destroys everything in its path._

Leo imagined everything hot he could think of, willing the flames to increase in intensity but with no such luck. The flames stayed hot but had a warm orange glow about them, as if they were from a dying fire pit from a campfire.

_Campfire...camp..._

He thought, not noticing what he was thinking of before it was too late. His thoughts of his previous home and the memories that were held there caused the flames on his hands to increase tenfold, turning the locks and chains to ash almost instantly.

_See? Thinking about Camp makes you angry, you should use that to your advantage. Focus your anger, channel it to show them they were the weak ones._

_What are you talking about? This isn't Star Wars! I wasn't even thinking about Camp Half-Blood, just...something else._

Leo Valdez thought to himself, trying to deny the fact that he missed camp already; even though it was miserable there. He walked slowly into the factory, noticing the broken equipment and complexity of the building itself along with the old style of architecture.

He walked onto the main work floor and spotted a nice area to stay for the night after he worked on the remote a bit of course. He sat there tinkering with the device that could save lives if it got out of control, it was his last safeguard. The last line of defense in a line that was slowly breaking down day by day; no thanks to the Voice.

_Why do you even bother?_

_What do you mean?_

_With that contraption, if you end up using it...I still win._

_This isn't for me._

_Who's it for? Your friends? Oops, sore subject...sorry._

_At least I had friends._

_HAD, being the keyword there Valdez. She was right you know, you'll always be the seventh wheel. The odd man out. The overlooked one. You may think it's because your dependable or reliable but the truth is...your a freak. People fear you, Frank barely talks to you. Hazel does the same, they both are frightened of you and what you could do. Your other 'friends'? They see the truth behind you, a weak demigod who is trying to prove himself a hero._

_Stop it._

_You know the best part in all of this? She doesn't even like you. She despises you with a burning passion; almost as much as Zeus hates Kronos._

That was the last straw, Leo pushed too hard onto the remote and snapped a piece off; effectively rendering it useless. He stared at the object in his hands, wondering if this was what his life was...a broken piece in an otherwise well-oiled machine. He was the one that caused problems on the trip, he was the trouble maker, he was the odd man out. He deserved to be ostracized, cast out from his peers. Anger swelled up in him as he threw the entire object across the room towards a wall, causing the remote to shatter into tiny pieces.

"Best way to make it is to start over..." he quietly said to himself as he walked over to his broken invention. Wondering if the words that just left his mouth meant more than just starting over the project of his, wondering if this remote really did symbolize his life.

_The best way to make it better is to start over._

His mood brightened at the thought of starting over, also the fact that he spotted a pile of scrap metal might have had a hand his mood rising as well. He immediately dove right into the pile of metal, dividing the useful pieces from the worthless ones and then into smaller piles of importance and of relevance to future projects. It was then that he heard a loud _CLANK_.

He quickly turned around to come face to face to face with three large figures standing above him; one holding a large metal pipe and the other two carrying a large chain of sorts with their large hands. Leo didn't need to know what they wanted, or how they got in here, or how they found him. He just knew he had to leave, so he did a quick look around and spotted the main office; they usually had a small window which he could use for his escape.

"Well…I-I suppose I'll be going now." Leo said as he shot up and ran towards the office room, knocking over anything he could on his way in an attempt to slow down the creatures behind him as they barreled towards the office; right on his tail.

Leo barely got inside just in time to drag the desk to the door, along with a filing cabinet, water cooler, and chair to try and block the creatures from getting inside as he made an attempt to escape their possible plans to kill him. He figured anything would come in handy so he started tinkering with a small trap he could use against the monsters but was soon interrupted by a loud pounding on the door, as if they were knocking.

"Who is it?" He called out, trying to think of other ways to stall them so he could escape.

"Boy, open this door so we can kill you!" A gruff voice replied as it seemed to bang its pipe on the door, Leo could also hear the other two lumbering behind the door as well...suggesting they light the factory on fire.

"Boy-open-this-door-so-we-can-kill-you, who?" He quickly, and cleverly, replied as Leo ran to the window to try and open it with a screwdriver from his belt. The banging got louder and louder as he quickly unscrewed the window, the screws falling to the floor as he moved to the next one. Finally, after the last screw fell to the floor and the door was about ready to bust open he opened the window...to reveal that it was barred from the outside. It would take hours to get through them, he had mere seconds at best.

"Well, that sucks." He sighed to himself as the door flew from its hinges, landing with a loud crash on the opposite wall and revealing the three figures as they stood in the doorway.

"If you wanted in, you could have just knocked..." Leo said as the larger one with a pipe came running towards him and bonking him hard on the head with the blunt weapon. The other two immediately hobbled over to the unconscious boy and started restraining him with the chains they carried.

"This is the one she mentioned, we shall be greatly rewarded." The apparent leader said with a voice like nails on a chalkboard, as he picked up the unconscious mechanic and flung him over his shoulder.

The runt of the trio grumbled a question towards the leader as they walked out of the factory, "Yorgos, where are we taking this one?" He asked as he licked his lips, eager for another meal.

"This one is special, he's going to the coliseum," Yorgos answered as the trio of cyclops walked down the streets of the sleeping city towards the coliseum.

* * *

Leo paused in his storytelling, unwillingly as he was interrupted by his old and new friends' shouts of anger.

"I'm so going to kill those things!" Hazel said, Frank nodding in agreement.

"I'll send them to the Mariana Trench for what they did!" Percy screamed, anger flashing through his green eyes as Annabeth but a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

"Nothing we can do now Percy, it's already happened. All we can do is listen and accept it." She said soothingly, effectively calming Percy down...just slightly though.

Piper and Jason on the other hand were looking at Leo with worried expressions, they had been through so much and they felt it was unfair for Leo to go through more while they were living happy lives. Getting married, starting businesses...planning to have a kid.

"Are you okay Leo?" Piper asked, putting a hand on Leo's in a comforting way.

"Of course I'm okay, I'm always okay. I'm the King of Okay." Leo reluctantly smiled at his oldest friend, old memories rushing through his head.

"That's a terrible title Leo," Jason said; though one could tell he was worried about his best friend.

"That's not what I meant Leo...are you okay?" Piper asked; Leo didn't understand what she meant until after a few seconds. She was wondering if he was okay emotionally and mentally, about seeing them all again after all these years, after being on his own for so long.

Leo felt a strange wave of resentment run through him, who was she to question if he was okay? Who were they to get worked up over a story, over what he had been through? They never cared before, why would they start now?

__That's good Leo, think more like that and I'll forget our previous conversation..._ _

Leo stared at his friends and felt terrified at the return of the Voice, especially at what it planned to do with his friends that left him. No one deserved to have that done to them, he needed to tell someone about the Voice. The only person he ever told was long gone, lost in battle and the escape. He needed to tell his friends, to try and protect them.

"No Piper...I'm not okay..." Leo said quietly, wondering if telling them would be a good decision or ultimately lead to their downfall.


	8. The Prophecy

Leo stared at his friends and felt terrified at the return of the Voice, especially at what it planned to do with his friends that left him. No one deserved to have that done to them, he needed to tell someone about the Voice. The only person he ever told was long gone, lost in battle and the escape. He needed to tell his friends, to try and protect them.

"No Piper...I'm not okay..." Leo said quietly, wondering if telling them would be a good decision or ultimately lead to their downfall.

Before Leo could finish his confession Frank spoke up loudly, which was a change from his usual quiet voice, "Uh sorry to interrupt everyone but Hazel and I have an announcement to make we uh..." It was obvious Frank still wasn't used to having all the attention on him as he clammed up when everyone directed their eyes towards the Son of Mars as he was at a loss of words from being so nervous; luckily Hazel finished for him as she was used to Frank being nervous at being the center of attention.

"We're having a baby!" Hazel finished for Frank, both looking full of joy and happiness as Hazel through her arms in the air in excitement.

"I had my suspicions," Reyna commented lightly, grinning at the soon to be parents. Piper squealed a bit at the announcement and beamed at Frank and Hazel while everyone else congratulated them and smiled; happy that their friends were going to be parents.

"Oh, my gods! How long have you known? How far along are you? What's its name? Is it a boy or a girl? Can I be the godmother?" Piper shot question after question at the couple, her thoughts already swarming with ideas for the baby shower; which were interrupted by Hazel shushing her.

"Shush Piper. We don't know if it's a boy or a girl, just a couple weeks, just a couple weeks as well since we planned it, and of course you'll be the godmother!" Hazel answered all of Piper's questions with the same speed.

"What made you decide to tell us now? Why not sooner?" Annabeth asked sounding a bit betrayed that they wouldn't share their news with her but she was happy for the most part.

"We uh, we didn't want to get our hopes up. Plus, what better a time than with all of us back together?" Frank said as he kissed Hazel on the cheek and she smiled brightly at Annabeth.

Everyone continued to congratulate the couple, even the orphans that lived at the hotel, while Leo sank back into his seat as he lost the momentum to confess.

_You're lucky you didn't get to talk because if you would have..._

The Voice let the threat hang in Leo's head, letting him fill in the blanks. If the Voice was returning after all this time, he knew it was not yet finished with him...or if it even started its plan in the first place. He had spent so much of his time researching everything about Greek and Roman mythology to try and find the source of the Voice. Eventually, he came up with no known suspects, those that were alive at least, so he resulted to reading some other text. He started reading all he could about the mind and psychology, trying to determine if he was, in fact, crazy from...his experiences over the sea in Rome and Greece.

He set his thoughts aside from the Voice and focused on what was happening now, Hazel was holding her hand to her stomach like a natural mother would as she talked animatedly to everyone around her about her new baby. When they first met, Leo had to admit that he had feelings for her. Who wouldn't? She was beautiful, young, smart, funny, she was everything Leo wanted in a girl, and more. After he figured out she was dating Frank, he tried to steer clear from her without seeming like it was on purpose so he wouldn't hurt her feelings. When they went on the journey with Echo and Narcissus his feelings grew as they stood on top of the rock, holding hands and looking at the landscape, but shoved them deep inside to not add more drama to the trouble they already had to deal with.

After they had their "blast from the past" with Sammy, Leo figured their awkwardness would go away but he found he was even more awkward around Hazel more than ever. He wanted to confront her but with the giants attacking and Percy and Annabeth falling into Tartarus he found himself putting his feelings aside to keep the group together and in high spirits. He figured it didn't help to think of Hazel that way in the first place, he was just a lowly mechanic after all and Frank was the Son of Mars with fantastic shape-shifting powers. How could he find love in Hazel compared to Frank? How could he find love in anyone?

Leo was jolted out of his thoughts by everyone quieting down and looking at Leo with a mixture of emotions. Some were of worry as if they were saying why he wasn't happy for Hazel. The others were happy, glad to have more good news today. Who were they to say he wasn't happy? He left to be happy, how do they know he isn't happy? How does he? Why do they get to form a family, form better relationships, live their lives together in happiness while Leo didn't? Why couldn't it be Leo announcing he was having a kid? Of course, he had the orphans and Matt, whom he still needed to talk to, but it wasn't the same. Why couldn't he be the one getting married? Or getting a promotion in his job? Or have _anything_ remotely happy happen to him?

"Uh Leo, you okay?" Jason asked, leaning forward a bit as he glanced at Piper.

"Wha-oh yea, yea I'm fine Sparky. Good on ya Frank, I'm glad you lucky kids are having some of your own. Just name twelve of them after me, okay?" Leo said with a forced smile on his face as he looked towards the happy couple.

"Sorry for the interruption Leo, what were you going to say?" Piper asked sweetly, her happiness and concern radiating around the room, reaching each and every person. Leo awkwardly looked back at her and rubbed the back of his neck, trying to find the words in his mouth.

_Speak, and my plans will commence faster than you could say "Cookie."_

Leo was again at a loss of words, he was conflicted on telling his friends that they might be in danger but telling them _would_ put them in danger.

"Oh, ah it's nothing Pipes. It can wait." Leo blew off the question with ease as he looked into her kaleidoscope eyes, trying to remove all doubt from her, "So are you guys ready to hear the rest?" He asked, adjusting his position in his seat to a more comfortable one. The group all nodded with worry flashing through some of their eyes, noticing how strange Leo was acting since they last met.

"So, uh I was uh...oh right, I was knocked out in the factory..." Leo started his journey's story again, trying to create a mental image of his adventure in everyone's mind.

* * *

Leo awoke to the sound of chains rattling against hard stone. When he opened his eyes he was surprised to see a rather dark area with only a small flickering light coming from behind him. He was on the cold hard floor, similar to stone that wasn't quite smoothed correctly, and facing a wall of identical to the material in front of him.

The atmosphere of the apparent room Leo was occupying was cold and damp with the faint sound of water dripping onto stone. When the lonely mechanic turned around to look for the source of the light he saw the rest of his newly given living area. A small blanket was on the floor near the left wall with a small sorry excuse for a pillow, where the light was there stood a large wall of solid black bars with a torch flickering on the opposite wall of the entrance to Leo's room. On the right wall there was the same stony material but with a small opening that looked like it was hit with a sledgehammer a couple times, barely large enough to fit anything larger than a basketball into. On the floor near the entrance to his cell, there was a small tray with a minuscule piece of bread and a small glass of water sitting there in all of its magnificent glory.

Leo tried to stand up but realized his legs were wobbly from not standing for quite some time, so he resorted to scooting his body over to the small meal as he prepared to eat after what felt like days. Just as he was about to dig into his meal meant for kings, a feminine voice with a slight Scottish accent echoed throughout his small cell.

"Oi you, 'bout time you woke up. I thought you were dead after so long." The voice said from behind the wall with the hole in it.

"Wha-where are you?" Leo croaked out, taking a small sip of his water to try and rid his mouth and throat of the dry feeling of not talking in a couple days.

"Best not waste your meal, you'll need it soon." She said again, hoping to help the lonely mechanic in surviving.

Leo slid his tray of bread towards the opening in the hole and scooted his own body towards the opening, putting his back to the hard stone as he rested the cup of water on the tray next to him.

Leo looked into the hole in the wall to see a teenage girl with her blonde hair falling to her shoulders. She looked as though she had been through the Underworld and back again with intense gray eyes and a soft face with black smudges and a small cut above her eyebrow. The girl looked like your regular Mid-Western blonde teenager in her junior year of high-school, only she looked like she had fought Kronos herself; though Leo still found her beautiful. He saw how beautiful she was now and he could only imagine how gorgeous she would have been if she wasn't in this cell with him.

"Nice to meet ya! I'm Julia, Julia Servont." She politely said as she stuck her small feminine hand through the opening. Leo took Julia's hand in his and they shook hands while he smiled warmly at her, glad to see someone new that was nice to him after all this time. Not that anyone was really mean to him, he was just relieved to be noticed and loved the fact that she wanted to talk to him instead of the other way around. Plus, it might have helped that she was insanely gorgeous in the lonely mechanic's eyes.

_Oh please, not you and your love seeking again..._

_There's always a chance._

_Not for you there isn't, it was over for you before it even started._

"I'm Leo, Val-" He stopped before he could finish his last name, unsure of the fact that if he told her his last name if she would treat him like his other friends did, "Valderrama. Leo Valderrama." He caught himself as he thought of the quickest last name that started with the letters 'VAL' as fast as he could.

"Like the actor?" Julia asked as she furrowed her eyebrows, becoming suspicious of the mechanic's false name.

"Uh who?" Leo silently cursed himself for choosing a famous person's last name, hoping Julia would drop the subject of his name. Julia looked at him questioningly for a moment before shrugging and looking ahead as she nibbled on a small piece of bread.

"Who's your parent?" She asked Leo as she rested the back of her head on the wall behind her.

"Maria..." Leo answered cautiously, wondering why she wanted to know his parent.

"Ha, I mean your _godly_ parent, Leo." She smiled after chuckling a bit, then clutching her side as if it hurt to chuckle.

"You're a demigod?" He asked, before he remembered how he exactly arrived at his cell.

"Well duh doofus! Mine is Athena, wisdom goddess and all that stuff." She said, throwing her arms in mock frustration.

"Oh, mine's Hephaestus, god of awesomeness and apparently god of being trapped in a cell with beautiful women." the lonely mechanic smiled at Julia, whom blushed in response. As she was about to comment back, large foot steps could be heard down the stone hallway as large shadows could be seen dancing on the walls which caused Julia to change her facial expression instantly, to one of determination as she clenched her teeth.

"Go to the other wall and sit there, don't speak and don't make a sound." Julia ordered as she struggled to stand up and walk towards her set of bars. Leo quickly made his way to the other wall and instantly went silent, trying to catch any information as to what was going on.

"Mhm, your...battle...Yorgos." Leo could only manage to hear part of what the other voice said, it sounded like a large slab of concrete being pulled across broken glass. As the voice finished, Leo heard the sound of a lock clicking, Julia apparently being ushered roughly out of her cell, and then the jail door slamming shut. As their footsteps faded down the hallway Leo pulled his knees to his chest as he let the events that recently occurred come crashing down on him.

He thought of his memories back at camp, the moment he first learned he was a demigod and how he felt like he actually fit in for once. He had a family, the biggest one he had ever seen, and he had friends that would always be there for him. He thought of his possible life he could have had with Her, the way he could have lived. He could have become a leader, he could have had children in New Rome. But instead he was here...in a dark cell, listening to the roar of what sounded like a stadium of monsters in the distance.

_Don't be sad Leo...you still have me. I'll always be here..._

_Stop it. Just...stop._

Leo thought of how those memories at camp were just that, memories. He remembered his friends turning on him when he was possessed and fired upon Camp Jupiter. He remembered how quickly his family disregarded him after he finished his quest, he was the least important of the Seven...even after all he did. He was then filled with doubt of if he could even talk to Her in the first place, wondering if she felt the same way he did; wondering if she even noticed him. He thought of how every person he ever seemed to care about left him in some form, either making him feel left out, dying, or falling for someone else. He thought of how everyone no longer wanted to spend time with him, only use him...like the gods used demigods to do their dirty work.

_Good...now you understand._

_No, I didn't-I didn't mean it like that..._

For the first time in ages, the lonely mechanic sat down with his knees to his chest and cried. He cried for everything he had done, feeling as though it was all his doing in some strange way. He felt he was the reason everyone felt the way they did, responsible for their actions, responsible for only the bad and never the good, he felt it was his fault he was the seventh wheel; as if he could stop himself from being left out. Then his thoughts drifted to his mother, probably the only person who ever cared for the repair boy unconditionally, and how he had killed her. How he took all that love and affection from her, and threw it in her face by killing her.

Even to this day he felt responsible...responsible for everything. He was, after all, the mechanic. He was meant to fix everything; everyone's problems, everyone's mistakes, his own messes he had created but no one ever did the same for him. No one helped the lonely mechanic in his quest to fix everything, in his quest for making sure everyone was okay and happy; while he was the opposite. The lonely mechanic sat in his new home of stone and hopelessness and cried himself to sleep to the sound of the distant roar of a crowd.

Leo's dreams were never as bad as the one he had that first night in his cell, that night in his cell that turned his life into one long night; the dream that would be burned into his memory for nights to come.

His dream started off with him standing in the middle of Camp Half-Blood, devoid of all life, as ash rained down from the heavens. The cabins were destroyed with small fires still burning, the Big House in ruin as if it caved in on itself, and the nature of the camp dying as if none of the plants had had water in years.

Leo walked towards the cabins reluctantly, knowing he would not be able to fight the force pulling him in his dream, where he stopped in front of the Hephaestus cabin. It's metal walls stained from the smoke and ash but it stood in the best condition; despite the caving roof and door thrown off it's hinges. As Leo watched the cabins and Big House turn to dust in front of him, along with the Hephaestus cabin at a much slower rate, he witnessed the same woman he saw so long ago walk out of the ash and rubble. She looked like she hadn't aged at all, with her red curly hair just as wild and the freckles just as prominent on her face. She walked forward in her once white gown that was now splattered with paint and paused as she looked at the lonely mechanic, then the green smoke came; just as before. Her voice changed from her usual feminine one to that of a millennium old voice, so wise yet so hoarse and tired.

" _The Seventh Wheel shall roll away / They will search but to their dismay"_ The voice from the girl started saying, only for the girl to change into the repair boy's mother. Still just as beautiful in her grease covered suspenders, a wrench in her pocket, and her long black hair lightly blowing in the wind as she spoke in the same hoarse voice. Leo's eyes started to water as he saw his mom one more time, still feeling like he owed her his life and then more. Even though he wasn't in control, he still thought he could have fought Gaia in killing his mom. It was his responsibility to control his powers and he failed when his mom needed him most.

" _It will remain hidden for six long years / Despite its doubts of its faithless peers"_ Just as before, Leo's mom changed form into the last person he wanted to see...Nemesis. Still just as he remembered, resembling a biker chick with leather jacket and piercings. He felt resentment rise inside his body towards the goddess, this was all her fault. It was her fault he was the outcast, forgotten and lost in the wind by his peers. Then the resentment washed away from him like the tide pulling away from the beach back towards the rest of the ocean. Was this really her fault? Was it his? He did open the fortune cookie, he could have found another way. He could have done something else, _anything_ else. He was the problem, the broken piece in an otherwise well oiled machine.

" _They'll locate the Wheel and join together / for one last quest, and fight it's aggressor"_ Nemesis then changed into the form of Her. Her brown hair falling just past the middle of her back in a single braid, her dark piercing brown eyes looked directly at Leo. Even in this dream, she seemed so tranquil and regal like a praetor should be. Leo tried to call her name, he tried to tell her how he felt. He was tired of bottling up his emotions and he just wanted it to get out there, to be free like a caged animal being released for the first time in it's life. Despite his efforts, the repair boy was unable to speak or voice his feelings; he was only a silent viewer in his own dream.

" _It will make a choice to end the grief / With a high cost, near the deepest reef."_ Reyna finished the prophecy in the same voice Leo heard just before he left Camp Half-Blood for what felt like ages ago.

Reyna's eyes bore directly into Leo's, almost wishing to tell him something but unable to. Her form then shimmered back into the red haired girl, the one who spoke the exact prophecy to Leo so long ago. They were just passing by each other on the beach, the only people near the sandy place, when she looked directly at Leo and spoke the exact same words. He was too caught up in self pity and depression to pay any attention to the prophecy so he had forgotten it after all these years, only to have them thrust back into his brain again. The ginger girl's image then flickered as the wind picked up, like flower petals in the wind, as the entire camp was finally reduced to ash and dust. The repair boy was then brought to what appeared to be the lake, only it was evaporating into a cloud of water vapor just above him, as a dark voice spoke.

"Poor boy, still trying after all this time. Did you truly believe we were done with you?" The lake was now barren, with only water creatures flopping for water on the once lake floor, "There's still much to do..." then the lake creatures all burnt to a crisp as if the sun had touched down on just this one spot, disintegrating everything it could see. Leo looked down and picked up a purple piece of cloth, he turned it over in his hands to see SPQR written in golden letters only to have it turn to ash just like everything else around him.

Leo awoke from his dream in a cold sweat, not fully understanding what his dream held but the prophecy was now burned into his memory forever.

_The Seventh Wheel shall roll away._

_They will search but to their dismay,_

_it will remain hidden for six long years._

_Despite it's doubts of it's faithless peers,_

_they'll locate the Wheel and join together_

_for one last quest, and fight it's aggressor._

_It will make a choice to end the grief_

_with a high cost, near the deepest reef._

* * *

Leo was interrupted from his tale as Piper put her hand on his and looked at him with sympathy. Jason's jaw tightened as he looked with worry towards his friend, they were the only ones who knew what happened to Leo's mom and understood the grief he had been through. He didn't deserve to have the weight of the world on his shoulders while they lived happily ever after. Leo looked towards Piper with eyes full of sadness and depression, Leo asking Piper a silent question that she understood perfectly. After a moment's pause, she nodded her head slightly and smiled warmly at Leo, telling him it was okay and they were all there for him.

The lonely mechanic sighed, composing himself for the task to come as he turned his attention to his other friends.

"I, uh, I have to tell you guys something about..." he paused as he looked into the face of his life long friends, wondering what they were thinking, "..about my mom."


	9. The Nightmare

The lonely mechanic sighed, composing himself for the task to come as he turned his attention to his other friends.

"I, uh, I have to tell you guys something about..." he paused as he looked into the face of his life long friends, wondering what they were thinking, "...about my mom."

The group of friends sat around the partially destroyed table, the table cloth ripped in random places which revealed the mahogany wood that had small scorch marks scattered upon it. Leo's friends sat around the damaged table with their attention directed towards the repair-boy, as he readied himself to talk openly about his mother for the first time in a what seemed like forever.

"I've kept quiet about this for a while and...and I feel like you should know." Leo said, though it seemed it was directed towards the group as a whole it was actually directed towards one person.

"About your mom?" Matt yawned as he adjusted his sitting position, they had been gathered around the table for most of the evening and it was already close to nine at night.

"Yea I uh...I sorta killed her..." Leo said quietly, with his hands interlaced with each other and twirling his thumbs in a small circle around each other while he avoided all eye contact with his fellow demigods. Leo was then greeted with a light smack on the back of the head, which came from Piper as she scolded him a bit.

"Leo...we talked about this." She said, still slightly scolding him for thinking those thoughts again.

_She doesn't know, I did kill her...it was my fault. All my fault. All my fault. All my..._

_You were on the right path back then, why not go back to that again? Despite what they say, they're all scared of you._

_All my fault...my fault..._

_Remember the last person who had fire powers? Now HE was an achiever, but not as strong as you. Imagine what you could do with your power, but look at you now; weak and pathetic._

_My fault..._

"Wait you knew that he killed his own mother!" Annabeth questioned in a yelling tone, as she rose from her chair slightly worried that Leo would kill again; though she was confused how Leo could even kill a person as it wasn't in his nature. Piper sighed as she looked towards Leo, she put a hand on his arm as she motioned for him to explain while bringing him down from his thoughts as well.

"I uh, well it happened when Gaia was asleep when I was young. I...I don't know how but she sort of turned on my fire abilities and I ended up burning down the place where my mom was." The child of Hephaestus said as he put his head in his hands, "The one time she needed me...and I failed. She was the one person who cared for me in my life and I killed her...it was all my fault." Annabeth sat down slowly in her chair, looking with sympathy at the repair-boy.

"Leo I'm...I'm so sorry. But it wasn't your fault, you were young." She said, wishing she wasn't quick to jump to conclusions before hearing the whole thing.

"That was Tellus. That wasn't you, but it's in the past; there's nothing you can do now but accept it. However hard it may be..." Reyna said wisely as she eyed the seventh wheel in a new light, not liking how different he acted now from the carefree hyper kid they knew so long ago.

"Whatever happens, we're glad you told us, Leo. We're your friends and we're here to help you, no matter what." Percy said, smiling warmly at the lonely mechanic.

_Yet notice how they didn't correct you when you said your mother was the only person who cared for you. They don't care about you, they simply want Mr. Fix-it back at their precious camp._

_They do care, they just don't say it._

_Oh really, well excuse me but why did you run away?_

_Because I..._

_Because THEY didn't care. Now tell me, do they look like they still do? After everything you've told them, have they once asked why you left in the first place?_

_No...you're right..._

_Of course I am, who's been with you through thick and thin? Who's cared for you? Provided wisdom? Who saved your life and her's during the escape?_

_...y-you._

_That's right._

_But I never asked for you. I didn't want this, I don't want this._

_I'm here to stay this time, Valdez. Nothing you can do about it now..._

Leo suddenly stood above his friends in his grease covered clothes, hair a wild mess, his face devoid of any emotion, and declared, "It's getting late, we should probably rest for the night."

"Awwww but Mr. Valdez!" Isabel pouted, wanting to hear more of the story; even though she knew it was late.

"You know I don't like you calling me that, and I need you to go get Victoria anyways," Leo said as he started walking towards the door, followed by the group.

"It's...it's happening again? I thought they were done..." Isabel asked a slight amount of worry to her voice.

"What's happening again?" Frank asked with surprising amounts of interest but was ignored by the two talking in an attempt to silently say that the topic was not to be discussed.

"Just a precaution, I've got a feeling about it. Tell her the full dose this time." The lonely mechanic opened the door and the group of friends and family started walking down the dark halls to the front of the hotel. As they neared the lobby in relative silence, Matt and Ronald went off to their respective rooms while Isabel went to show Leo's old friends their rooms and fetch Victoria. The child of Hephaestus stood in silence in the now deserted and dark hotel lobby, watching the backs of his friends as they walked to their room.

_You're using the full dosage this time? Gettin' worried, now, are we?_

_I won't have another incident, not like last time._

Leo walked to his room, almost barren and devoid of any evidence someone lived in that hotel room and stared at the delta symbol on the wall. He pondered pressing it and going to another one of the orphanages he had set up, or to one of his many hideouts he created to escape his new life to work on projects. The Seventh Wheel could roll away from the group again, they didn't know the location of his other homes. He could just escape this whole fiasco for a while, only coming back to this home in times of danger or to check up on it when his old family was not around. He knew they'd stick around and visit, hoping to catch the mechanic again because now they knew of the hotel and had evidence of other ones. Their search would only grow stronger if he left...and he couldn't just abandon his new family here. They needed him, they _wanted_ him. No, it was time to end this search. Time to end all of it, he couldn't keep running. He was tired of running, he'd been running for so long he forgot what he was running from. He'd put off the coming events long enough, now was as good a time as any to face them.

The time flew by quickly as Leo looked at his old designs he had hung on the wall, remembering when he created them and what inspired him to make the inventions. It seemed like it was so long ago that he was just trying to get by in the wilderness school with Piper, it felt like an old story now. He felt so old when in reality he was just barely an adult in mortal eyes, though his friends went on to live happily ever after; he kept living the normal life of a demigod. That meant fighting monsters, saving mortals, nearly dying, and losing someone along the way while they were getting married and working regular jobs.

"Who's Victoria?" Jason asked as his friends and Isabel walked down a hallway towards their rooms, admiring the finger painting on the walls.

"She's a Hypnos kid, why do you ask?" Isabel said, running her hand along the wall as they walked.

"What's she do for Leo?" Hazel questioned, she couldn't understand how and why a child of Somnus would be involved with her friend.

"Well, to be honest, I don't understand it fully, her room's on the way so you can ask her!" Isabel replied excitedly, turning the corner to go towards Victoria's room while Percy leaned close to Annabeth and whispered.

"She is _way_ too happy for me, definitely Apollo's kid." The Child of Poseidon said as Annabeth struggled to contain her laughter, knowing extremely happy people made Percy uncomfortable.

The group arrived at a hotel room that had the numbers '80085' on it, causing the group to stare in confusion.

"Why is her room numbered like that?" Jason asked Isabel, who simply laughed a bit.

"She's got a weird sense of humor, she stole the numbers off of other doors to make that." She said as she knocked on Victoria's door three times. A small "Come in!" followed the knock in a sing-song voice that came from the inside of the room. Isabel opened the door to Victoria's room to reveal a teenage girl with long black hair, with a red headband in it, sitting on a desk chair as she scribbled away at some notes with her back the group. Victoria stood up and faced her guests, her surprising light blue eyes examined each person at lightning speed as she tugged lightly on her sundress; which was a nauseating neon yellow. The light from the lamps in her room reflected off her pale face, revealing small circles under her eyes from lack of sleep.

"Howdy, what's up Izzy? Who are y'all?" Victoria spoke with a slight southern accent as she smiled warmly at the new guests.

"These are some of Leo's old friends," Isabel said as Victoria's eyes widened ever so slightly, "but I came to let you know that Leo needs you again. Full dosage..." Isabel asked, sitting on Victoria's dark red comforter on her bed, which clashed with her four walls that were all painted different colors; including the ceiling. One wall was of a light pink, while another was covered in scribbles as it was chalkboard paint, the ceiling was of a sky blue color with small clouds painted around the ceiling fan as if it were the sun, the third wall was painted polka dotted purple on green and the final wall was of a pure white.

"Again? I thought they were over?" Victoria questioned as she went over to a small cabinet on the other side of her room, which held vials of different shapes and sizes with a wide range of colored liquids inside each. She bit her bottom lip for a moment as she looked for the correct vial, upon finding it she tossed it to Isabel who caught it with her right hand expertly.

"He says it's just a precaution, whatever _that_ means. Thanks again, Vic. We'll be heading out now! We should totally go swimming again!" Isabel said as she started for the door, only to hear Jason ask Victoria a question.

"What's in the vial?" He asked, gesturing to Isabel holding the vial that had a dark purple liquid in it.

"Oh um...it's nothing. Just a vitamin vial, helps keep him tough like the growin' boy he is!" Victoria tried to play off the question, obviously not wanting to talk about what she was giving the child of Hephaestus.

"We're just worried about him, Victoria. Please, what does he need that you give him?" Piper asked, not pouring one ounce of charmspeak into her words at all.

"It's a εφιάλτης potion." She answered with a sigh, plopping down onto her desk chair.

"A...a nightmare potion? Why in Hades would he want that?" Annabeth questioned Victoria, glancing at Victoria's notes for a second to see they were of her apparent "sleep and dream studies" she had been conducting.

"It's not what you think, though. It rids the person of nightmares when they drink it, though I haven't um...perfected it yet. It's dangerous to drink the whole vial, the full dose, because it has uh...strange side-effects. Leo's the only person I know who can take the full dosage and not have any side-effects, though." She answered, covering her notes up a bit to hide them as she noticed Annabeth glance over at them.

"He...he gets...nightmares?" Hazel asked Victoria and Isabel, both nodded at the same time.

"They can get really bad, but he hasn't had one in a long time. That's why we were surprised he wanted the potion again." Isabel answered for Victoria, who looked like she was about to pass out sleep deprivation.

"Is there anything else you can do for him? I'm sure there's something to get rid of them if they're as bad as you say they are!" Jason yelled a bit, worrying more and more about his close friend.

"I'm not sure there is, Jason. Victoria looks like she's an expert in this sort of field, she would have found a way by now; I'm sure of it." Reyna spoke up from the back of the group, to which Victoria acknowledged with a nod.

"I've searched everywhere, and yet I've come up with very little. We're lucky we found this potion formula at all; actually." She said to the group, knowing almost everything about sleep and anything related to it.

After a few more minutes of chatting Isabel hurried the group to their rooms, boys in one room and girls in the one across from them, she then quickly ran to Leo's room to deliver his potion. She arrived at his door, slightly open, and knocked once as she peeked her head inside the room a bit.

"Mr. Valdez?" She whispered into the apparently vacant room. She inched her way into the room a bit more until she was standing in the middle of the room, a small stack of papers thrown on the floor with odd contraptions drawn on them. She bent down to get a closer view of the inventions Leo had made when a surprisingly booming voice caught her off guard and she squeaked in being frightened.

"Isabel?" The male voice wondered as Isabel stood upright and straightened her shirt as she held the vial.

"Don't scare me like that!" She reprimanded Leo, who stood leaning against the door frame with a small smirk on his face.

"Well, you _are_ in my room..." He retorted, pushing himself off the door and walking over to the stack of papers; putting them into a small drawer.

"Right. Right..." Isabel quieted a bit, watching Leo put away the notes and drawings away from prying eyes. He turned around with a questioning look, raising one eyebrow in the process as he asked Isabel the obvious question hanging in the air.

"Well...did Victoria give you the thing I asked for?" Leo asked Victoria directly.

"Oh uh yeah, sorry. Just...a bit fried I guess. Here ya go!" She dropped the vial into Leo's opened hand, he quickly thanked her and drank the vial in one gulp. The child of Hephaestus continued looking at Isabel with a questioning look, trying to read her emotions as she stood lost in thought.

"A lot to take in, huh?" He asked, sitting on his bed as he patted the spot next to him for Isabel to sit down with him as it was one of the only places to sit in Leo's room.

"It's just...I mean it's..." she sighed deeply as she plopped down onto the bed, making Leo bounce a bit, "Yea. It's more than a lot, I'm understanding and following it, though."

"But?" Leo asked if there was something Isabel was holding back a question, nagging at her like a gnat.

"It's...how can you be so nice to them? You told us what happened, and yet...you act like nothing happened." She shot the question out, after thinking a moment and staring at the ceiling. Leo shrugged and thought over the question for a moment, he knew it was coming he just never prepared for it. Why was he acting like nothing happened? Well, he wasn't acting like nothing happened, he just was being...indifferent. He was trying to hold back because he knew if his dam broke, it would flood. Emotions would gush out, good and bad, and overflow his thinking while it overwhelmed his old friends. He knew from experience that if he let his guard down for a moment, which is all it needed, he would lose it all. He'd be angry and happy, sad and glad, calm and crazy, a giant emotional cocktail dumped all over the proverbial kitchen floor.

"It happened, I can't change the fact, you can't change the fact and they certainly can't. I forgave them a long time ago. I accepted it after a while. I accepted I'd be alone. Though they may never accept it. There's a saying I heard when I was young, 'We accept the love we think we deserve'. I thought I deserved being used as a tool, tossed aside until I was needed. I thought after what...what happened to mom I deserved to be the outcast. Now...I'm not sure anyone deserves it. Being alone, it changes you. You don't realize it at first or while it's happening, but looking back on it, you see how much you've changed from what you used to be or what you wanted to be. Sometimes it can be good, but most of the time...most of the time it's bad. So all I can do is accept that they're here, and accept that they won't give up on me. Just like how I won't give up helping to make sure no one ever feels alone again because I know what it's like. I'm putting off the moment they ask a similar question to the one you did because I'm not sure I know how I could handle it." Leo sighed and laid back on his bed, fingers interlaced with each other as he and Isabel stared at the ceiling and talked.

They talked about Leo's past life, Isabel's hopes to become a surgeon or run an orphanage, about what would happen when Leo's friends left, about what would happen if Leo ever left until the potion took effect and pulled Leo into a deep sleep. Isabel did her best to pull the cover from under him and wrap it around him, she tip toed to the door but turned around just before leaving to look at one of the most important people in her life and be grateful she had someone like Leo to watch over her. With a small smile, she flipped off the light switch and closed the door to the Lonely Mechanic's room; leaving him in a peaceful sleep.

* * *

_**WARNING: This is a bit rough, so if you do not like death or killing. Please scroll down to where it ends.** _

Leo opened his eyes to see himself standing in what appeared to be a valley of ash and rubble, the sun's orange rays barely breaching the veil of smoke that hung over the world around him. He stood in scorched clothes with small armor over that, covering his right shoulder, thighs, shins, and forearms as he watched the last remnants of what stood here before him crumple to the Earth.

_This is only the beginning. Imagine what we can do if you gave into it, let it take hold of you and shape you and morph you into something...something far greater than anything._

Leo watched himself as this other shell of him smirked evilly and erupted into a column of orange flames, a giant fire reaching high towards the skies as the smoke that once hung over him cleared to reveal a destroyed downtown Manhattan. With the fog lifting, Leo could see the true damage this shell of him had done. Demigod, mortal and monster bodies lined the streets, cars on fire and streets cracking from lava rising from below.

_This was only downtown Manhattan, boy. The more you practice, the more you'll see yourself improve and become god-like. Soon nothing will stand in our way, you'll take to Olympus itself and usher in a new era._

A bright light engulfed Leo as he was transported to Camp Half-Blood, in ruin. The cabins all but destroyed, the big house on fire and collapsing in on itself, the fields dead and burning while campers struggled to run from a shadowy figure walking calmly through the mayhem. As Leo moved closer he saw it was himself, causing fire to engulf everything he wanted, as he walked towards Poseidon's cabin. He saw Jason's back run into the cabin and slam the door shut behind him. He only assumed his other friends were in there with him, hiding from this...this evil Leo destroying their home. As the shell of the lonely mechanic walked towards the cabin, jet streams of water came from four different directions to try and stop him; with Percy at its source.

"LEO! STOP THIS! THIS ISN'T YOU!" He yelled over the roar of the evil Leo shooting flames towards the streams, colliding into a giant cloud of steam.

"This was _always_ me. You've all done nothing but disrespect and fear me for something I never thought of doing. I'm only giving you what you wanted. A fire user who craves only chaos." The evil Leo moved both his hands up towards the sky as a wall of flame erupted from the ground and rushed towards the Son of Poseidon. Percy tried in vain as he ran towards his cabin, trying to call upon any water in the vicinity but was soon engulfed in the flames. An ear piercing scream echoed throughout the camp as the famed Son of Poseidon was cooked to a crisp, eventually falling to the ground in defeat. Annabeth had seen the love of her life killed before her very eyes, he had died protecting the ones he loved and she wasn't going to let that be in vain. With tears gushing from her eyes she ran out of the cabin, despite her friends' protests and attempts to stop her, with her dagger drawn.

"YOU MONSTER!" She screamed at a smirking Leo, only to quickly put on her Yankee's cap to hide her from the aggressor.

"Me? I'm the monster? You brought this on yourselves. But really, hiding?" Leo said, hoping to bait the Daughter of Athena out of her hiding, only to fail. Suddenly, Leo was grabbed from behind with a dagger to his throat by Annabeth. Tears still flowing from her stormy gray eyes as she struggled to rid the world of the evil she had in her grasp, despite all that had happened she couldn't bring herself to do it. She couldn't kill Leo Valdez.

"Rule number one, never hesitate," Leo said before surrounding his entire body into flames, burning Annabeth and causing her to jump back from the third-degree burns forming onto her body. Leo wasted no time in rushing forward with demonic speed to tackle the Architect of Olympus and intensify the flames around his body as he started to burn the Daughter of Athena; more screams echoed throughout Camp Half-Blood as the world lost yet another hero.

Leo, watching the scene from the sidelines, could do nothing but feel tears well up in his eyes. He knew the nightmares were coming again, the nights he watched himself kill his friends, and thought he had stopped them before they started with the potion.

_Oh, there's no stopping this now, things are already in motion my little repair-boy. This WILL happen, whether it be tomorrow or the next day or a year. You will kill everyone you've ever loved, and I will have finally won._

Leo watched as his other friends rushed out of the cabin, to see the famous Percy and Annabeth Jackson dead on the ground. Frank was the first to react as he turned into an elephant and rushed Leo, followed by Hazel who pulled rocks out of the ground behind Leo; cutting off any chance of escape. Hazel then ran forward with Piper, sword, and dagger drawn, and they followed Frank to attack Leo. Jason flew a bit off the ground to summon lightning from the heavens with all his strength, just as a bolt came down and struck Leo; he smirked and erupted into flames.

The bolt and flames collided to create a blast so fierce it caused Frank to fall back in elephant form and Jason to fall to the ground from his flight. The flames receded back into Leo, causing him to glow a bright mixture of red, orange and yellow as his friends watched paralyzed by fear. The lights coming from Leo soon reached the breaking point as they died down as fast as they rose for a split second, only to blast out in radius from his hands as Leo threw them out from his body. Flames shot forth in a large radius that engulfed everything in their path, including Leo's helpless friends. The flames were so intense that the closest people to him died nearly instantly, Frank and Hazel. Leaving Jason and Piper to suffer for a few more gruesome seconds as they watched their once best friend look down at them with pure hatred.

"L-Leo..." Piper croaked, nearing the brink of nonexistence as her eyes filled with tears and then...nothing.

Jason had his head turned, hand outstretched in his final moments as he tried to grab hold of the one thing he held dearest; Piper McLean. He watched his love die in front of his very eyes and he could do nothing but watch as he felt near death as well, his eyes moved to see the fallen hero standing above him. Their eyes locked for a moment before the life vanished from Jason Grace's eyes, leaving behind nothing in his place.

Jason and Piper McLean were dead along with Frank and Hazel Zhang.

Leo was now in full tears as he watched all of his friends fall by his own hands, he had had dreams similar to this one but none as extreme. None as graphic or emotional...or real.

_The deed is almost done, the clock will strike twelve soon. One more remains one more stands, one more who hurt you._

Reyna limped out from the rubble of Athena Cabin, using her sword as a cane, to reveal she was covered in ash, blood, and cuts. She stood for a moment, leaning against her sword for support, and gazed upon the clearing of destruction. So many had been lost already, now her closest friends had been brought down by someone they trusted.

The evil Leo locked eyes with Reyna, a simple nod from her was all he needed to know what he had to do. He walked over to Reyna as she collapsed to the floor, catching her in his arms, as they looked into each other's eyes. She moved her hand to hold onto Leo's as she said one of the last things she ever would.

"Please." Leo knew what she was asking, but sat and watched her fade from life slowly instead.

"You don't deserve that." He said as she passed away, standing to be covered in a cloud of smoke and ash as the wind pushed it in front of Leo's view of his evil self.

All Leo could see was darkness, this had been the worst dream he had ever had and hoped it wouldn't get worse. He wasn't sure he would live through another nights sleep if the dreams were going to be like that _with_ the potion.

_This is your destiny. It's been written by the Fates, it is inescapable. You will cause the fall of Camp Half-Blood and create the largest amount of deaths in one day in history. You will be etched in stone, you're tale will be told as a scary story by little demigods everywhere, you will achieve greatness where others have failed with your abilities. You cannot change this, you can only delay...even then, it is useless._

* * *

_**END DREAM** _

Leo jolted up from his bed in a cold sweat, body shaking from the nightmare he just escaped. He struggled to contain his emotions once more, the images of his friends dying coming to his head again and again.

After changing clothes, brushing his teeth, trying to control his wild hair, and eating something small, he sat at the edge of his bed and stared in front of him. He wasn't thinking of anything particular, his mind had been racing constantly these past few days and he sat there recharging; hiding from the world for a few precious moments in peace. Soon, an hour passed with him thinking of very small things, lyrics to songs, quotes he had heard, and jokes he heard until a knock came from his door; bringing him down from his meditation-like state.

"Who is it?" He said hoarsely, having not spoken all morning.

"It's us, can we come in?" He heard Jason say, the lonely mechanic assumed the three children were with them; it was unlikely they would not want to hear the rest of his story. The Child of Hephaestus lifted himself up from his bed and started walking towards the door, knowing the questions would come soon enough as he continued his tale of where he had been all these years.


	10. The DXXXIV Days

Leo jolted up from his bed in a cold sweat, body shaking from the nightmare he just escaped. He struggled to contain his emotions once more, the images of his friends dying coming to his head again and again.

After changing clothes, brushing his teeth, and trying to control his unruly head of hair, he sat at the edge of his bed and stared in front of him. He wasn't thinking of anything particular, his mind had been racing constantly these past few days and he sat there recharging; hiding from the world for a few precious moments in peace. Soon, an hour passed with him thinking of very small things, lyrics to songs, quotes he had heard, and jokes he heard until a knock came from his door; bringing him down from his meditation like state.

"Who is it?" He said hoarsely, having not spoken all morning.

"It's us, can we come in?" He heard Jason say, the lonely mechanic assumed the three children were with them; it was unlikely they would not want to hear the rest of his story. The Child of Hephaestus lifted himself up from his bed and started walking towards the door, knowing the questions would come soon enough as he continued his tale of where he had been all these years.

Leo opened the door to see everyone back again to hear the story, the story of the Lonely Mechanic's life long struggle. He was promptly greeted with a light slap on the back from Jason, a warm smile from Piper, a forced fist bump from Percy and a few "Good Morning!"s and "How did you sleep?"s. He immediately knew they talked about _something_ last night and figured they were trying to make him feel welcome and 'part of the group again', as if he ever was. He was surrounded by friends, that were technically family, all trying to show how much they 'cared' about him yet he had never felt so alone. The Son of Hephaestus never wanted to be put on a pedestal or raised higher than everyone or be treated different, he just wanted to be welcomed to the group...recognized as an equal. Not as a pity case, or treated like he was the most special thing in the world.

_You don't want to be cast out, you don't want to be higher than everyone. There is no middle ground, Valdez._

_Yes there is, I just want friends who will accept me. Not keep me around for pity or fear-_

_But that's the way to keep people with you, with fear. Why not strike a bit of that good ole fashion Fire Fear into their hearts?_

_I was going to say out of fear of me leaving again...but I'm done running. From both of my problems._

_I agree completely, why don't you just tell them what they did right now? They don't seem to know..._

Despite the surprisingly good advice the Voice gave Leo, he couldn't bring himself to talk about that part of his life at all. It also didn't help that the Voice seemed to be working against him twenty-four seven, so anything it said was to be taken as only a trick. He said his "Good Morning"s and "I slept great!"s to his friends as they walked to the dining area in the hotel to get a quick bite to eat before they continued in listening to Leo Valdez's story.

_Wow, I'm impressed. You've got really great entertainment value!_

_Was...that a compliment?_

_Oh it sure was! I mean, why else would they still be here? You amuse them! Just look at ya!_

Leo may not have been a child of Athena, but he knew when someone was using sarcasm; even when it was the Voice. The group of friends and family had moved smaller tables together so they could eat in a group while Leo ate his cereal in silence as his old friends joked around with the younger demigods. Leo found it terribly funny that his old friends would become his new friends', the kid's, favorite people...the Seven had that effect on everyone it seemed like.

Seeing the Seven back together again was nostalgic and infuriating all at the same time, the Seven brought back enjoyable memories during the war, if there were any at all, and then came the not so pleasant memories. Surprisingly the majority of the bad memories existed after the war ended, he could only think of a few unpleasant memories during the war itself; which the Lonely Mechanic found humorously ironic. While during the war his friends were terrified and scared, he felt somewhat happy as he was needed and had a 'family'...more or less. Then when it ended his friends' need of him did as well, whatever amount of need there was to begin with at least, to the point to where he practically switched roles with the Seven. He was miserable in times of peace and happiness while the Seven were living quality lives, meant for heroes; and that's where the biggest problem lies.

He had never directly thought of it, but deep down Leo didn't consider himself a hero at all. He was the sidekick of the sidekick, all these people were so much more than him. They were stronger, faster, smarter, better looking, the list went on and on and on. They had sacrificed so much and gotten great things in return, he had sacrificed just as much if not more...and got nothing. Not that he did those things for rewards, he honestly wasn't sure what he wanted; Leo was just confused about everything. He would always contradict himself within his thoughts, first he wanted to be noticed then he wanted to be 'just another guy', he didn't want rewards for the things he did, but then he did, then didn't, his mind was a never ending puzzle that kept changing in front of the person's eyes. His mind utterly confusing in every possible way; contradicting itself, repeating it's actions, moving backwards then forwards, but one thing was for certain...

"Leo, you okay? You seem out of it." Reyna asked, finishes a bit of toast and sipping orange juice.

"Wha-oh yea I'm fine, just thinking a bit I guess." He replied, playing with a bit of scrambled egg on his plate.

_You missed your chance to tell them how you felt, how you hate them._

_I don't hate them._

_Sure you do, you just don't know it yet._

The Voice was more confusing than Leo himself, one moment it would be telling him to attack people, the next it would help him live, after that it'd give him advice, then it'd throw the curve ball and toy with his thoughts which made him bewildered on so many levels. He had had trouble trying to figure out what the Voice actually wanted before, it was as impossible as it would be for a full balloon not to go up towards the heavens.

Eventually, the group trekked back towards the ballroom, full from their breakfast and full of interest as to what Leo had been doing during his absence, passing by children of different ages they had not seen upon entering the hotel. Some were walking into the hotel with bags, others were leaving with luggage while a few said their 'Goodbye's and 'Welcome back!'s as some of the smaller ones played Gods and Titans; it's similar to Cowboys and Indians but much more destructive, and even more fun.

They gathered around the nearly destroyed table as Leo tried to remember every little detail about what had happened to him in the coliseum.

* * *

Leo woke up in his cell, he couldn't see any clocks around him so he had no way of knowing how long he had been asleep. The roar of the monsters had gone silent, there was barely a noise in his vicinity; apart from some water trickling down into a small puddle that had formed while he was sleeping. He stood up in his cell, still trying to get his bearings, and saw another tray was put out for him along with a note made of old yellow paper. He walked over to the tray and set the food aside, careful only to eat the meager meal when he needed it, and took the folded note in his hands. His mind raced with what information could possibly be contained on the note, who would write him a note in this place anyways? He wasn't even sure monsters of this caliber could even read, let alone write.

The outside of the note held no indication of previous writing or from where it came from, there _was_ a small spot on the edge of it. Upon examining it closer, Leo decided it was either one of three things. Blood. Oil. Or some sort of drink. Without wasting any more time, Leo unfolded the rough yellow page to be put into shock at what had been sent to him. He had expected a long letter, or one full of information or threats...not this. In plain letters, as if it were typed on an old typewriter, the word "DXXXIV" was centered on the left side of the small page while on the right were the initials "LV" in the same manner the previous word was written. Leo could have burnt a hole in the paper from how long he had starred at the two sides of the folded yellow paper. Had he written this in his sleep? Was there a time traveling Leo running around toying with past Leo with confusing notes? Am I even here? Am I insane?

_Completely._

_I mea-_

_Utterly bonkers. I'm afraid there's no turning back now._

_I di-_

_It was bound to happen I suppose. What with you being alone all the time, it's a wonder you've been sane, relatively, for so long._

_Just st-_

_Next thing you know, you'll be in a padded cell with a straight-jacket on you as you blubber on about Olympus. You do know all of this is in your head right?_

_No it isn-_

_Really, gods? Demigods? Friends? Please, your in a hospital right now. You're insane.  
_

"SHUT UP!" Leo yelled, the Voice was being more irritating than usual and it wouldn't help him to think about all of this being real or not. Despite how much sense it made, he tried to refuse to believe it. Gods and monsters and...all of _this_? It was something an insane person would believe. What if those "monsters" he killed were actually people...what if he was a danger to everyone because he was insane.

_Oh you are a danger alright, just show them why._

_I can't. I wo-_

_You do know you're in this hospital because you're a pyromaniac. A freak obsessed with fire. You've burned down so much that they keep water and fire extinguishers near you at all times._

The Voice had never sounded so convincing before. Was he really in a hospital? Did he really hurt people? Will he wake up to a padded room, ready to take happy pills and get shots for sedation if he got too excited?

"Y-you okay o-over there?" A small voice called from the other cell, it was Julia. Apparently, she had come back from...whatever she was ordered to do by the cyclops while Leo was sleeping. The son of Hephaestus walked over to the hole in the wall and put his back to the corner, sliding down as Julia dragged her body to the hole as well.

"Yea I'm fine." Leo looked over to Julia to see her in terrible shape. Her hair was matted with dried blood, she had a black eye, a busted lip, a cut running down the left side of her face, and he could only assume how bad of shape the rest of her body was in. "Oh my gods, Julia! What in Hades happened to you!?" He cried in surprise.

"Y-Yorgos...got a few good hits in" She wiped her face with her hand, smearing some blood and dirt onto her forehead, "...should have paid attention to the chess pieces..." She acted as though she were scolding herself, looking towards her cell door at the blazing torch that hung on the wall of stone.

"Wh-what happened" Leo struggled to find the words, there was little he could do to help her but talk "Out there? What was all the yelling for?" Julia started coughing into her hand, she looked at it and quickly wiped her hand on her clothes.

"I'm sorry." She said quietly, staring at the torch as it's colors danced on her face. Even though she was bruised and hurt, she still looked beautiful...

_Really? Love again? You can't help but fall in love with every woman you meet, can you?_

_You know why..._

_Oh yes, I do...I know all too well. Still trying to forget about her? You know she's with your "friends" right now? Smooching on that son of..._

"Here" Leo stood up, gathered his food, and slid it between the window in the wall towards Julia, "you need this more than I do."

"N-no I couldn't...you n-need..." Julia started to protest weakly but silenced when she saw the determination in Leo's eyes; he would maker her eat if he had to.

Julia silently ate the food and drank the water as Leo sat against the wall, his mind racing of what had caused her to get such injuries. Did she fight a cyclops? Was she tortured? What about the chess pieces, though? Will he have to...

"Thank you." She said in a whisper, but just loud enough for Leo to hear her, as she smiled weakly at the Lonely Mechanic.

Leo smiled warmly at her and put his hand in the window in the wall, palm upwards, as Julia put her hand in his. They sat in that position until they fell asleep, this ritual continued for a considerable amount of time. Leo would give Julia most of his food, only eating a bit because Julia forced him to, and talking to Julia. Every four hours a patrol would pass their cells, either two or three cyclopes who would yell at them if they passed them when they were asleep. They had barely gotten any sleep during their imprisonment, barely received enough food to scrape by and it showed in both of their forms.

Leo had gotten skinnier than before, dark circles under his eyes, hair even messier and greasier than before, and paler from being deprived the Sun for such a long time. Julia looked better than Leo, for she had been eating his food reluctantly, but she still looked rather frail. Her wounds had healed up from her fight with Yorgos, only a few scars remained but she kept coughing and wheezing in her sleep.

One night, Leo Valdez sat up from his slumber to overhear a conversation between two guards.

"He goes tomorrow against Yorgos." one said, with a voice that would make someone tear off their ears; it's shadow twice the normal size of an average cyclops.

"He won't make it." the smaller one said, a voice not so terrible but it's shadow showed a bulky right arm as if it were made of...

"He better, I have money on him surviving the round." The larger one growled as they continued down the hallway. Leo looked at the calendar he had made in the wall, remembering that he started it after Julia's fight.

_That makes it almost day 532..._

_Been here so long that you've figured out how to tell the time. Clever boy._

_Was that a compliment?_

_I only tell the truth...about everything._

There it was again, the Voice putting thoughts into Leo's mind. It told him how his friends hated him, how Julia was using him like they were along with the gods, how he was weak but clever, how he should show them why they should fear him, how he killed his mother...

"That makes it day 533," Julia said in a whisper, obviously just waking up from the conversation that had occurred outside; Leo lifted his head up to look into the window in the wall. Over the time they had spent in their cells together, they had made the hole bigger so it made it easier to talk but small enough so the cyclops didn't notice it. Not that they would care, in the shape they were in the cyclops could easier overpower them if they chose to try and escape.

"Nope, that was only their fourth pass. That means it's only about four in the afternoon..." Leo groaned, he barely slept well these days from the nightmares he had been having.

"You were asleep for their fifth pass, Leo." She smirked at him through the window, gray eyes shining from the bright torch she had been given to put in her cell from winning her fight the previous week. After his second week in the cell, Leo had been introduced to the Fights At Ron' Tun...or F.A.R.T for short. It took Leo a few days to come up with that acronym for the gladiator fights that went on in Ron' Tun, it's what the cyclops called the coliseum they fought in.

"Did...did you hear what they said?" Leo asked cautiously, Julia was the type of person to worry sick about her friends; that included the Lonely Mechanic himself.

"No, I was just waking up and you know how I am; I barely know which direction is up and which one is down when I first wake up." She smiled warmly but was curious as to what the guards were discussing within earshot of the prisoners.

"Uh, haha just...some weird mumbo-jumbo about a guy named Polly who lived on an island with some golden fur or whatever." Leo shrugged, deciding not to tell Julia about his fight because most people who fought Yorgos...well their cell became vacant like an old motel that had a visit with a serial killer.

Julia shrugged and tried to fall back asleep while Leo tried to clear his mind of the anxiety running through it, his next fight would probably be his last...

Leo didn't get any sleep the rest of the night, instead, he spent it on coming up with plans for his fight against Yorgos; the Cyclops equivalent to Muhammad Ali mixed with an angry silver back gorilla. Eventually, the guards came and ordered him out of his cell, after he said a quick goodbye to the Daughter of Athena he was shoved down the dark stone hallway that reeked of moldy cabbage and mildew. Leo walked between the same two cyclopes from last night, his heart rate beating like a drum and in rhythm with the distant roar of the crowd and the ceremonial drums beating as well. It seemed as though the tunnel was never ending, the darkness ahead of him seemed to swallow all of the light from the cells that he passed. A satyr. A nymph. A few hell hounds. At least a dozen demigods.

He wasn't sure how the guards knew, but they stopped just before the large oak door that led to the arena as the announcer spoke above the cheers and yelling of the large crowd. The announcer spoke with a gravely voice as if he had a cup of nails and milk for breakfast that morning, and a slight southern accent as he introduced the next contender.

"Y'all are in for a treat tonight!" the announcer yelled into the sound system, "In one corner, we have the mighty, the terrifying, the menacing, the cyclops that makes Polyphemus look like a satyr...YORGOS!" there were deafening cheers and yelling from the crowd and the drums were beating louder than before as the announcer finished Yorgos' introduction. He seemed to have started Leo's introduction to the crowd a few moments later with the crowd yelling their comments during the introduction.

"Aaaaand in this corner, we have the terrible (boo!), the strong (yeah, right!), the infamous child of Big H himself...LEO VALDEZ!" as soon as he said his first name, the doors opened and Leo was pushed into the arena with the crowd laughing and booing at him.

"He's gonna tear you limb from limb!"

"Hope you arranged yer funeral!"

"New cell just opened up!"

Leo stood in a giant arena covered in sand, it looked like a replica of the actual coliseum in Rome with Roman architecture and flaming torches around the inner wall of the arena. The stands were filled with monsters of all types, Grecian and Roman, that were all yelling and some even banging their weapons on shields or other monsters. At the very top of the coliseum, there stood a balcony with two people seated and one standing as they watched the impending battle. In the biggest chair, there sat a large Cyclopes wearing a white toga with a shining gold medallion around his neck. To his immediate right, there sat a small cyclopes with a ratty brown wig on her hair and a long white gown along with a small tiara of solid gold.

The man standing up was simply a man in a dark red shirt that appeared to have patches on it, trousers the color of old parchment that was faded from age, and a small black beret on his head covered in black hair. He stood about six feet tall with a long wooden stave in his left hand that looked like an oversized club. The man, presumably the announcer, leaned against the pillar to the left of the male cyclopes and kept a keen eye over the arena. When Leo met his eyes, the man nodded slowly and a small smirk danced across his barely shaven face and a twinkle played in his dark brown eyes.

The male cyclopes stood up from his chair, voice booming all around the stadium, announced that the game would be simple combat. He sat down, peering down at the arena towards Leo, as he waited for the death match to begin. That is when Leo saw his opponent...

A belly, rivaling an elephants belly in size and shape, shot out from a small brown breastplate that was covered in dried blood and grease. His arms were the size of tree trunks and his legs the size of equally large roots to that tree. The only thing that appeared to be normal size, for a cyclopes, was his head that was shielded by a silver helmet with a bright red plume coming out the top of it. The only thing visible from his helmet was a bright blue eye that darted left and right from behind the silver visor of the war helmet. In his right hand, he held a large hammer that stood as tall as him and had a large red ruby at the end of the handle covered in leather.

"Finally, the one I have been waiting for..." Yorgos boomed over the roar of the crowd, slowly walking towards Leo who was making his way to the center of the arena.

"Been waiting to get your butt kicked, eh?" The child of Hephaestus replied, eyes darting all around the arena for anything that might be useful to him.

"I have been waiting for revenge..." Yorgos' voice rocketed all around the arena as he slammed his hammer into his other hand to get a better grip on it, he immediately swung it towards Leo who dove under it to the right.

The game had begun, and it was only the first round...


	11. The Three Rounds

The hammer had landed absurdly close to Leo and the ground shook from what seemed like the force of a freight train colliding with the ground of the coliseum. The mechanic laid on his stomach then instinctively rolled to his right, away from the cyclops, as a large sandled foot slammed right where Leo once was. Yorgos began to lift the mighty war-hammer from the ground onto his left shoulder, preparing to bring it down upon the child from cabin nine when Leo quickly scrambled away from the cyclops that was now yelling in annoyance at the mechanic.

"STOP MOVING SO I CAN CRUSH YOU!" Stomping his foot, leaving a large print in the ground, he barreled towards Leo while reeling his hammer back in preparation of flattening the child of fire against the coliseum's wall like a fly on a wall.

"You have a crush on me? Sorry man, you're not my ty-OH ZEUS!" Leo screamed as he dove to the right yet again as the war-hammer collided with the stone wall. Age old bricks rained down upon Leo as he lay on the ground, quickly trying to retreat with a cloud dust left behind. As he looked back to Yorgos, he saw that his hammer was lodged into the wall and the battle-hardened cyclops was trying desperately to remove it from it's new found home.

Leo took the opportunity and created two balls of fire in his hands, the flames casting a glow against his tan skin as he lobbed them both at the back of Yorgos. The first of the flame grenades had missed his opponent hilariously, hitting the wall to his left and caused the flames to fall onto the cyclops' hammer. Yorgos turned to his left just in time to be greeted by a smoldering hot fireball to his helmet covered face, his eye getting a nice view of the repair boy's fire. The cyclops reeled back from surprise of the grenade but no damage seemed to be done to the monster as his hammer was finally freed from the destroyed wall. Yorgos let out a long hearty laugh, resting his hammer on his shoulder as he slowly walked to Leo.

"Hephaestus won't help you here, demigod! How do you think the cyclopes survived as blacksmiths?! YOU'RE FIRE WON'T HARM ME, HERO!" Yorgos bellowed, earning cheers from the monsters in the stadium seating as Yorgos grinned wickedly from under his scorched helmet. "Now, stop running and face me like the hero you claim to be!"

_I never claimed to be a hero..._

Just as Yorgos was about to charge Leo, a whip came from behind Yorgos and wrapped itself around the tree trunk size legs of the cyclops; causing him to wave his arms like a grotesque baby bird trying to fly from a high branch. The crowd grew silent as they watched the man in the dark red shirt pull the whip from under the monster, causing him to fall flat on his face and a few monsters to chuckle to themselves.

"Now now now, Yorgos...I thought you wanted a fair fight? He needs weapons first, don't cha think?" He spoke in a distinct southern accent as he stepped onto the fallen cyclops with a small grin on his face. With a quick snap of his fingers, one of the large gated entrances to the coliseum opened as a burly cyclops half jogged towards them with a chest thrown over his back like a sack of grain.

Placing it on the ground, the monster kicked it with all it's might. The chest slid over to Leo like a hockey puck on ice, he had to sidestep the speeding chest to avoid being floored by it. The man in red lifted his foot towards the speeding chest as it began to slow down, coming to a stop just as it made contact with his foot. He beamed at everyone around him and his dark brown eyes' gaze eventually fell upon Leo.

"Ya have no idea how long it took to master that, it's 'bout time!" He exclaimed, beckoning the mechanic over to the chest as he unlocked the large steel lock with a key around his neck. "Well don't just stand there! Get ova' here!" The man commanded to the dumfounded Leo, walking cautiously over to the chest he heard the strange red clothed man mumble "Third round, Leo."

Leo had to do a double take as he registered what he thought he heard the man say, when he looked into his eyes though, the man had already turned around to address the crowd.

_Did he say what I think he sai-_

_Yes, third round Mechanic._

_Why'd he say that?_

_You really aren't that smart, are you..._

_What's_ that _supposed to mean!?_

"Ladies, gentlemen, monsters, and all those in between! Welcome to the first round of our main event!" He spoke as Yorgos stood up and wiped dirt off of his armor, glaring at the announcer while tossing the whip at him. Catching it without looking, the announcer rolled the whip up and continued speaking, "Our entertainment will fight until the bell! Or until one of them...gives up." And with that, the man walked past Leo and the chest towards the dark arch, giving the mechanic a strange look as he passed.

Leo Valdez lowered his gaze down to the contents of the chest, he saw a crude set of armor, a small dagger, a shield, and...

_My tool belt!_

_Don't just stare at it..._

As Leo put on the breastplate that was a size or two too big, strapped the shield to his arm and attached the dagger to his tool belt, a bell resounded throughout the coliseum; commence Yorgos laughing heartily again.

"NOW WE CAN BATTLE, FINALLY! I'LL MAKE YOU RUE THE DAY YOU MESSED WITH HER!"

"Oh goody..." Leo muttered as he clipped his belt around his thin waist, pulling out a hammer from it and lighting it on fire.

The two circled each other for a few tense moments, the crowd roaring in annoyance of blood not being shed from either of the champions.

"Is this the ballroom dancing portion of the battle?" Leo questioned, spinning his hammer in his hand with a forced grin. Yorgos grunted in response as he rushed towards the lonely mechanic like a professional linebacker, except much larger and uglier while wielding a war-hammer. Leo raised his shield just in time as Yorgos' infamous hammer came crashing down upon him, leaving a large dent in the metal shield and causing Leo to sink to his knees from the force of the first attack. He groaned from pushing against the ground, opening his clenched eyes just in time to see Yorgos' large foot come racing towards his thin body.

_This is gonna hu-_

The foot launched Leo away from the collision, the wind being knocked out of him and a large bruise already forming on his chest. Spitting some blood onto the ground, Leo shakily stood up preparing for the next attack; only there wasn't one. When he looked at his opponent, he saw the cyclops gloating to the audience, arms wide open and a smile on his small one-eyed fishbowl head.

"I AM THE STRONGEST THERE IS!" He bellowed to the crowd, earning a loud roar of approval.

_And I thought I was cocky..._

_He craves entertainment, Leo. Use it against him._

Leo didn't have time to ponder why the Voice was suddenly helping him, nor did he care. He'd learned to drone it out and he needed to stay focused on surviving till the third round, for whatever was to come.

"I AM THE CONQUERER OF DEMIG-"

_BAM!_

The back of Yorgos' helmet had just had an intimate yet quick date with a flaming hammer thrown by none other than Leo Valdez. The crowd laughed at Yorgos' confusion as he turned around to see the child of Hephaestus grinning wickedly with a dagger in hand.

"DID YOU THROW THAT AT ME, DEMIGOD?" Leo couldn't hold back his chuckles, causing Yorgos' face to turn red with rage.

"Ya really hit the nail on the head with that one, didn't ya?"

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" He screamed, charging Leo full force.

_You're fast, Leo. Use it to your advantage._

For once, the Voice was helpful. Leo waited until the last second to dive to the left to avoid the charging cyclops, slashing blindly at his leg in the process with the dagger. After rolling away, Leo caught a glimpse of blood on his knife and his spirits lifted immensely. He had landed a strike. Albeit a small and insignificant one, but it meant he could do it again. As the large cyclops turned to face Leo, he saw his fat leg had a surprisingly large gash in it from his opponent's dagger.

"HOW DARE YOU!" He yelled, slamming his hammer on the ground in anger as he glared at the child of Hephaestus. He turned to the crowd with a look of hatred and commanded them to assist him, "GIVE HIM A CHALLENGE!" The crowd immediately started throwing all of its garbage at Leo as Yorgos charged at him.

_Why do they never play fair?! MOTHER OF HEPHAESTUS!_

He had ducked just in time to avoid Yorgos' hammer, slicing his leg with his dagger and slamming his shield into him afterward; causing the massive cyclops to stagger back from a surprise blow. One of the spectators must have smuggled in illegal weapons, as a small dagger was thrown from the crowd and buried itself within Leo's right leg. His leg, already losing blood as he hobbled away from his enemy, was shooting massive amounts of pain throughout his entire body. Lucky for him, one of the monsters misjudged their throw and hit Yorgos over the head with a piece of their seat, sending him into a rage at the spectator.

As Leo limped away from his challenger, the ground started rumbling as the dirt was pushed aside from stone structures coming from the ground. The announcer's voice resonated throughout the arena in his accent, obviously trying to please the crowd and if he was trying to help Leo...he certainly wasn't showing it.

* * *

"WELCOME TO ROUND TWO: THE MAZE! WATCH OUT FOR THOSE TRAPS! THEY'RE TRICKY!" He yelled over a magical PA system as a stone wall came up from the ground right beneath Leo, he steadied himself atop the structure from surprise as he saw the giant labyrinth from inside the coliseum. When all of the walls had risen, Leo was at least 15 feet up in the air and he could see Yorgos, on account of the crowd turning on him and throwing it's last bit of trash at him as he navigated the maze.

"Oh man...this is _so_ not amazing..." Leo muttered to himself as he tried to locate Yorgos' exact position as well as get a grip on the dagger that had pierced his flesh. Through gritted teeth, Leo spoke words of encouragement to himself, "Come on Leo...this is a piece of cake...you've pulled thousands of daggers from this leg before..."

_Even though that's NOT true, Leo...you must hurry. Do it quick! Stop your whining and be a man!_

Leo wasn't sure which version of the voice he liked better, the helpful one or the mean one. Though, it was right. He gripped the handle of the dagger and clenched his eyes shut as he yanked the dagger out from his leg as fast as possible, blood gushing down his calf to his ankle and pain shooting up to his brain immediately. With tears in his eyes, he set one of his fingers aflame with a snap and mentally prepared himself for what was to come next...cauterization.

"Oh, gods...what am I doing..." While looking away, he stuck his flaming finger to the wound and screamed in pain as the wound and area around it became burned. But at least the wound would stop bleeding and it wouldn't become infected. Sadly, his cry of pain alerted Yorgos to his position...who was too close for comfort.

"I HAVE YOU NOW, HALF-BLOOD!" He screamed as he prepared to swing at Leo atop the wall. In order to avoid the deadly hammer, Leo leaped from his hiding spot to the closest wall away from the cyclops...barely making it by pulling himself up.

_Good thinking, Leo. Stay on high ground. Avoid the traps and-_

_Get the drop on him?_

_Exactly._

He could hear the Voice smirking in his head as he leaped from wall to wall, trying to circle behind Yorgos, who was currently covered in gashes on his body from a saw trap the maze had thrown at him. Leo could hear the cyclops' frustration as he climbed out of ANOTHER pitfall trap.

"WHERE ARE YOU, LEO? STOP YOUR HIDING!"

"It's called strategy...oh man, I sound like Annabeth..." Leo mumbled to himself as he leaped from a wall, his reminder of the Seven back at camp made him lose his concentration and stumble over his feet...sending him falling down to the ground and landing on his cauterized leg. He gritted his teeth and stifled another cry of pain as he lay on the ground, trying to clear his head and focus on the situation at hand. Using the wall for support as he stood up, he slowly traversed the maze by sticking to the right side of the labyrinth and simultaneously keeping an eye out for Yorgos.

As he stepped through the labyrinth, he felt a tug in his gut as he sensed a machine nearby. One of the perks of being a child of cabin nine. Sadly, he didn't notice it until it was too late. All he heard was the click of one of the slabs of stone used to create the labyrinth walls being pushed by his body weight, sending shivers down his spine.

"Oh...just what I needed...more pressure..." He said to himself as a hole from the intersection he was coming up to opened and a strange metallic figurehead that resembled Hephaestus came from within the wall. He stared at the head for a moment, keeping his distance from it, and realized what it meant...

_Dad?_

_RUN, BOY!_

He bolted back the way he came just in time to avoid getting a face full of Grecian fire that shot out of the head like a stream of water that filled the path he had just taken. Just as the fire engulfed his body, he turned the next corner before any major harm was inflicted upon him. He looked down to see his shirt on fire and immediately took it off along with the scorched breastplate. Tossing the shirt aside, he dubbed it useless since it had countless holes, he somehow found the irony of a Hephaestus head using fire to try and kill him.

He kept his suspenders on and just as he was about to place the breastplate onto his bare chest, he looked down to his right to see Yorgos stumble around the corner covered in slices and his helmet gone. A sinister grin crossed the cyclops' face as his brain recognized his true objective...kill Leo Valdez at all costs.

With a gut wrenching battle cry, the one-eyed beast raced towards Leo with murder in his eye as the repair boy yelped and dropped the armor to run the opposite way. No matter how many corners he turned, Yorgos stayed right on him like beauty did on Aphrodite. The lonely mechanic could feel the cyclops gaining on him when he felt a tug in his stomach once more.

_Perfect. Now, where is it?_

Quickly scanning the walls and floors, he saw a pressure plate at an intersection he was coming up on and devised a quick plan. When he reached the trap, he swung his body around the corner to avoid the plate as Yorgos came rushing towards him. All of his focus was on Leo and not the traps within the maze as he stepped onto the pressure plate, a loud click being heard over the roar of the crowd. A large hole opened up from the ground in front of him instantly, causing him to fall and become acquainted with a spike that went through his arm as he hit the bottom of the pit. Sadly, Yorgos was not yet vanquished.

Leo stared at him for a few moments at the edge of the trap, pondering on whether to kill the monster now or to run. Yorgos was writing in pain as he tried to wrench the spike from his forearm. Blood spilled out from multiple wounds on his body from the various traps he had activated, his eye red from irritation. All in all, he looked worse than normal.

_I can do it. He's immobile. It'll be easy. It'll be over, finally._

_No, it won't. You'll stay trapped here. Left to fight more. Turn around and wait until round three, Leo._

_Why should I? WHY SHOULD I EVEN LISTEN TO YOU?_

_Like I said...I only speak the truth. Whether you like it or not, I don't want you to die...yet. Now's not your time. Follow LV's advice._

_Who's LV? Tell me, now! No more secrets. No more vague answers!_

_You will find out soon. Leave this monster, you'll be free soon._

_Give me one good reason to trust you._

_I'm your only shot at freedom._

He hated to admit it, but the Voice was right. He had no other options. Even if he killed Yorgos, he'd only be caged again until the next fight. One that might end in his death. At least now he had a chance, he just had to wait till round three...for something to happen. Whether it be good or bad, it _was_ his only shot.

And with that thought, Leo Valdez turned away from a cyclops bent on destroying him. Running as fast as he could, careful to avoid traps on the way, he sat in a corner of the maze and waited. Waited for the round to be over so he could become free, hopefully.

_How much lon-?_

His thought was interrupted by the cheering of the crowd, they were all chanting one name. All yelling insults at Leo. All cheering for their champion of death. Leo's demise. His death. The cyclops had escaped the trap. And from the sound of walls crumbling, Leo guessed he wasn't too excited about his new spike piercing. Just like that, a loud and familiar bell rang through the stadium.

"YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS, FOLKS! R-R-R-R-R-ROUND THREE!" the announcer screamed to the spectators, the two cyclopes in chairs by the announcer were grinning at the maze as they watched their entertainment. "THIS IS A SPECIAL ROUND, OUR CHAMPIONS MUST FACE EACH OTHER ALONG WITH A NEW CHALLENGE!"

"BRING 'EM IN!"

"END HIS LIFE!"

"GET OFF ME TAIL!"

Leo heard members of the crowd yell as his heart rate increased, he was covered in sweat and blood. Every square inch of his body aching from the last two rounds. He was weak, struggling to stand upright from exhaustion. Leo leaned against the wall closest to him, dropping his knife to the ground as he tried to steady his heart and catch his breath. He could see the announcer pacing with a grin on his face, he looked in Leo's direction (or at least, that's what Leo thought) and nodded ever so slightly.

_W-was that a..._

"THEY'LL BE FACING THE DEADLY MINOTAUR HIMSELF! AIDED BY NOT ONE, BUT _TWO_ BABY DRAKONS!" He beamed at the crowd as he announced the final round.

This was it. Hopefully, the man in red meant the beginning of round three and not the end, because Leo didn't think he could survive that long. All he had was his tool-belt, a busted shield, and a small dagger to aid him.

_They must be rounding up the beasts..._

He thought to himself as time went on, he could hear the cyclops destroying countless walls with his hammer to find him. They were taking their time with the start of round three, and Leo assumed that meant Yorgos was close to him.

He sent a final farewell to everyone he knew, he had accepted his fate already. There was no getting out, now. No Percy to save him. No Jason to fly him away. No Annabeth to devise a plan. No Piper to charm their way out. No Frank to go all shape-shifter on their ugly monster behinds. No Hazel to use magic to escape. No Reyna...

He had started walking away from the destruction of walls, dagger held loosely in his hand along with his shield strapped to his arm, in hopes of a swift death. He had made his way to the gate closest to the announcer, silently praying for him to help the lonely mechanic. The gate shifted and as it rose up, Leo glanced at the announcer...who put his arm at a ninety-degree angle in front of him.

_Looks like he's holding a..._

Leo raised an eyebrow as he looked into the dark arch, two red eyes slithering towards him. He had found the entrance to one of the drakons. A baby to one of the most deadly creatures on Earth. He'd heard of the drakon that only a kid of Ares could kill and one that helped Percy and Annabeth against Tartarus when they were down there. They were everything demigods feared. Deadly, _extremely_ hard to kill, fast, powerful, and merciless.

As the eyes came closer to him, he felt a familiar tug in his stomach. A machine was close by. And if he was supposed to escape...

_OH MY GODS!_

Leo Valdez raised his shield just as the announcer did, trying to hide his body behind it as the drakon drew nearer. It lunged at him from within the arch, a roar going through the stadium as it started to breathe fire at his newest prey.

Then came the explosion.


	12. The Attack

Leo Valdez ran wildly through a dark tunnel, hands lit aflame as he struggled to navigate the never ending twists and turns. He didn't hear the voices chasing him, but that didn't matter, he had to get away. The things he said...the things he _did_ , he regretted his actions now but he just got lost in the moment. Even though he wanted to continue, he couldn't bring himself to directly hurt anybody.

The tunnels were quiet, oddly quiet. As if it knew it's lone traveler was on edge, sometimes he thought he could feel the labyrinth. There were rumors that part of Daedalus' spirit still roamed the destroyed labyrinth, or that the labyrinth gained a "mind" of it's own. But that's what they were. Just rumors. Sometimes he could hear the tunnel system breathe and move. But it was probably just in his head, like everything else.

He emerged from the labyrinth in an office. Or at least, what resembled an office. The desk was crummy, the seat smelt of a grandma's house, the walls were shedding like a snake, and the floor was severely cracked in all places. Leo quickly pushed the blue delta symbol on the wall and sat down in the office chair, the labyrinth entrance sliding back into the wall it emerged from. The windows facing the desk were dustier than usual. He had to cool down, come down from his rage induced high.

_Ugh, gross._

_Don't like a little dust?_

_I like to see, and no...no I don't._

_But you're a messy person._

_There's a difference between messy and dirty._

He tried to keep the windows cleaned at all times so he could peer down onto the factory floor from "his" office. It made him feel like an inventor watching his creations from above. He tried to block out all comments from the Voice that what he does is exactly what the gods do to humanity, they look down upon them and just watch.

_I told them to keep this place tidy._

Leo stood up from his broken desk chair and walked towards the large office window that faced the work floor, the floor creaking as he walked across the poor tiles as he tried to see what went on down below

_You Hephaestus kids are all the same, disorganized._

_For once I have to agree with you on that._

He could hear people tinkering away on the factory floor just below the office. The wrenches hitting metal, the blowtorches igniting, the frustration, the minor explosions from failed creations... he loved it all.

"Pittsburgh's Hideout For Hephaestus and Vulcan Demigods."

The Lonely Mechanic turned towards the office door to walk out and into the work floor, already screaming to the demigods in the workroom, "I thought I told you guys to keep this place clean while I was away?!"

As he walked out of the office his face dropped and his body tensed up as his dark brown eyes gazed upon the raging conflict. Those weren't wrenches hitting plain metal, those were wrenches hitting weapons. And those weren't cries of frustration, they were cries of pain and battle. The blowtorches weren't for welding, they were for burning. The explosions weren't from creations...they were grenades.

His Pittsburgh hideout was under attack, and it was all his fault.

* * *

**EARLIER THAT DAY**

"Leo? Leo, what happened next?!" Jason asked, on the edge of his seat just like the other half-bloods.

"Yea man, what happened after the explosion?" Frank questioned, his inner Mars showing from his love of the action.

"You're lucky you raised your shield in time! You could have died!" Piper chimed in, looking like a mother worried for her child after a scrape from playing outside.

_See?_

_What?_

_You're entertainment. Always have been. Always will be._

_They're just worried about me._

_Oh please. You'd be better off leaving them with an action movie, at least in that they'll care about the main character._

_What makes you say that?_

_Have they ever asked why you left? Ever say thanks for doing the things you did? For closing the doors? For freeing her? Did any of the three apologize for what they did? You could have been with her all this time if it weren't for him._

_Stop it._

_He came in and swept her off her feet. He came in and took her from you after your time together. He claimed her for himself. And he was miles away when it happened..._

_STOP IT._

_I told you, you will always be the outsider. The Seventh Wheel. The truth is, Leo...I didn't make you the seventh wheel. You made yourself the outsider._

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!" Leo screamed in rage as he slammed his fist down onto the table and stood up; causing the table to come close to breaking under his sudden strength. The group immediately stopped talking and stared at Leo in shock. The three demigods of the hotel visibly scared, never seeing their mentor get even slightly annoyed.

Leo's hands were on the table as he tried to block out the Voice, his hands having small flames dance up from his palms to his elbows as the tablecloth started catching fire.

Piper was the first to react.

"L-Leo? Leo...just...just calm down okay." She poured every ounce of her charmspeak into those few words as she stretched her hand to rest on Leo's shoulder.

_SMACK_. Smacking her hand away, he looked straight into her eyes with a few tears streaming down her face.

"Don't charmspeak me, Piper. You don't **get** to tell me to do anything after what you did!" Leo raised his voice and slammed his flaming fist onto the table, Jason shot up next to Piper.

"What's your problem, Leo?! Why are you acting like this, man?" Jason questioned with his arm around Piper's shoulder protectively.

_Tell them. You've been waiting for them to ask. Now's your chance to show them how terrible they truly are._

Leo walked away from his chair and turned his back to the table, facing the large window that led to an average day in New York. The sun wasn't setting. It wasn't rising. The moon wasn't dancing with the stars. It was just another day in the life of Leo, except now he had to face what he ran from. He'd gone over the conversation countless times in his head and he didn't expect it to be anything like this.

It wasn't overly dramatic, it wasn't something you would find in a teen drama book with vampires and zombie lovers, it wasn't in a movie, it wasn't even in a cheesy sitcom...it was just normal. And that simple fact was somehow comforting to Leo.

"You want to know why I'm acting like this...I'll tell you why." His words were barely audible to the people at the table, "Remember the Wilderness School? 'Where Kids Are Animals'?"

"You mean that place Coach Hedge found you guys at?" Reyna questioned, sitting in Leo's previous seat. She probably moved closer to either help or fight Leo should he get out of control...

_Hmph. She could try._

"Piper. Answer me." Leo sternly said, even with his back to them his focus was completely on the daughter of Aphrodite; if he looked at her then the tears would start streaming. He couldn't let that happen. If he let himself get that far and break...wouldn't be able to get back up. Just a broken piece of glass on the floor. A broken gear in a well-oiled machine.

"Y-yea of course I remember! How could I forget?" Her heart was a jackhammer against concrete and she was fidgeting with her wedding ring, wiping away a tear that had rolled across her cheek.

"Do you remember the stuff you did with Jason when he showed up?" Leo asked, he was trying to keep his cool but he started boiling with anger the more he talked. The fact he had to tell his 'friends' this made him upset, he shouldn't have to tell them. They should already know.

"Um...the time we set Coach Hedge's pants on fire, that time we watched a meteor shower on the dorm roof, the times we ate in the stands at the field during lunch, and when we had to work as partners in shop class."

"Jason...do you remember all of this?" He asked through clenched teeth, already knowing the answer.

"Of course, but look, Leo, what does this have to do wi-" He started but Leo held his hand up in silence.

"It's got everything to do with it..." He started, the Voice speaking constantly through his head "And no...you don't remember it at all. Because those weren't your memories."

Jason sat dumbstruck, he remembered everything...partially. Okay, maybe it wasn't completely clear but he saw it in his head. He saw himself putting his hand out towards the Coach's pants and fire shooting out of it. Wait, Jason couldn't do that. Could he?

"Wh...what..." Jason muttered, a hand to his head as he tried to shake the thoughts out of his mind.

"You ever wonder why I chose this place to hold demigods? It's because the mist doesn't really work well here." Leo said, staring out the window as a large semi drove through the street. "Your 'memories', as you call them, aren't yours. They aren't even Hera's."

Jason could see clearly, his hand shooting flames towards Coach Hedge's pants, that his skin color changed to a light tan. His vision became obscured by black strands of hair falling over his eyes, he saw Piper's back to him as Coach Hedge was screaming about not putting animal sounds in his megaphone again.

"Leo...what are you..." Jason muttered, his mind being flooded by the actual memories. It was a strange feeling, having memories from someone's perspective become clear to you and then erase themselves from your brain.

"I'm not doing anything. The mist is fixing itself. It'll get to Piper soon..." Leo corrected, it had hurt him the most when he got here. Almost instantly. It was the reason the ballroom was so destroyed like a fire raged long ago here.

He was right. Piper thought back to when she and Jason first met, shop class. He was being escorted by the headmaster on his first day, Jason's electric blue eyes darting around the classroom. Then a wave of what looked like smoke washed over her vision and over Jason. His normal blond hair grew slowly and changed shades of color as his frame lessened and his skin color turned darker. His clothes morphed into a dark green coat, his stern looked changed into a grin. He wasn't Jason anymore. His hair was longer, unruly, and black.

Piper held her head in her hands, suffering from a massive headache from the memories correcting themselves.

_Good. They're seeing the truth. Finally._

"Leo, what's happening! Tell us!" Annabeth screamed, holding Piper along with Hazel while Frank and Percy checked on Jason. Reyna seemed to be the only one composed, even the young demigods were panicking slightly but there was nothing they could do. This was way out of their league. This was a matter for the Heroes of Olympus to attend to. For every team has their fights, their ups and downs, and their pitfalls but they couldn't compare to what the Heroes went through and what they were going through now. A teammate turning on them, almost unheard of.

"I figured you of all people would know, Annabeth. Or even Hazel, for that matter. The mist is powerful, but it can't create something that isn't there. The mind is too complex for memories to be created out of thin air." He spoke, choking back his feelings for a little while longer, "It can only replace one with another." Leo uttered as he mimicked plucking something like from a tree and putting it in another area.

Jason saw him and Piper eating on the stands in the field. Her hair was perfectly imperfect, she wore no makeup, as usual, but she still looked beautiful in every way. He looked down and saw his hands, his normal hands. Looking up again, his vision became blocked by black strands of hair. He brushed them aside with his tan hand. The green coat around his slim frame closed tight around him, trying to keep himself warm from the cool breeze.

Piper saw the meteors raining from the sky, crickets chirping, birds asleep, and soft music playing from the radio Jason made. She looked into his sky blue eyes and she felt at home. Safe, even. She glanced up at the sky again and back to Jason, seeing him made her heart flutter a million times. He moved closer. "Oh gods is he going to –" her thoughts were interrupted as their lips collided atop the rooftop as meteors rained down from the sky. Her eyes were closed and when she opened them with a flutter, she had a panic attack. His eyes had turned dark, his hair black and wild, his skin tan and his shirt turned into the dark green coat she was ever familiar with.

Piper was in tears, Jason was trying to squish his head between his hands as Leo watched with flames and tears in his eyes, the Lonely Mechanic couldn't look away while his friends went through what he experienced ages ago. The truth might set you free, but it's so much more painful than lies.

"Now you know..." He muttered.

"N-no. That's not true." Piper stuttered through sobbing.

_How dare she. She LOVED you and he stole her from you._

Leo's hands lit aflame with anger, of all the things she could have said she chose the worst thing out of all of them. She was denying what had happened, which was okay in Leo's eyes as he did the same thing. But what hurt most was that she denied her feelings for him, even Leo accepted that he loved Piper when it happened. It just felt right, like it was there all along. Like pointing at a field of grass and saying that flowers were growing there, he just never noticed it until it was pointed out to him.

"Oh it's true, Piper! WE were in love! WE kissed on the rooftop! It was all ME, not Superman over there!" He screamed, the flames from his hands dripping down onto the hardwood floor and landing on a cloth draped over the piano.

"I wish I would've found out about this earlier. But I saw the truth when I found this place. It cleared my head of the mist, and it's done the same to you two as well." Leo stated coldly at his two friends. The lonely mechanic looked towards the others with furrowed brow, "Sadly, you few are just ignorant. There is no excuse for what you did."

_Let them know. Tell them what they did to you. They deserve worse than what you're giving them._

"Wait, what? Don't tell me _we_ were a thing, Leo..." Percy said and was greeted with a smack to the back of the head by Annabeth, who looked both furious and worried in her stormy gray eyes.

"I don't find this funny, Perseus." Leo squinted, he never used anyone's real names. He only used nicknames, but this was serious. No jokes this time around. This needed to be said, out in the open.

"What did we –" Hazel asked, eyes wide from confusion.

"Not...really talking to you right now, Hazel. I'll get to you, see this is sort of an organized thing," He started rambling, the Voice was getting antsy and violent again, "and you know how I am about organization."

_BURN HER TO A CRISP! THEN ROAST THE CHICKEN NEXT TO HER!_

"So, we're good?" Percy smiled sheepishly at Leo, who stared directly into his eyes with flames.

"No. We are _not_ good! You took the one thing I had going for me and you didn't even give it a second thought!" He was screaming now, out of anger and because the Voice was at deafening levels now.

_KILL THEM. RIP THEM APART._

_LIGHT THE PLACE ON FIRE._

_BURN IT DOWN._

_ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS, LEO!_

He didn't know which thoughts were his anymore or if the Voice was just on rapid fire mode. Leo needed to ground himself or he'd lose it. He turned to look at the window once more, the semi-truck still there as Hazel and Reyna tried to calm everyone down; Piper in a pool of tears, Jason suffering from a massive migraine, Percy and Annabeth looking like they were ready to pounce on Leo, and Frank trying to console the younger demigods.

"You don't even think about her anymore...do you, Percy?" Leo asked, surprisingly calm under the circumstances now. His feelings were a big jumble of moldy spaghetti strewn about on a dying lawn in the middle of July. A mess.

"Who? Wait, did I miss something?" Frank asked in his soft voice, eyebrows raised.

"Calypso." Leo said at almost a whisper, he couldn't hear the voice. He'd grown used to its volume now, it was so loud that it was white noise to him. He wasn't able to understand what it was saying, but he had a few good guesses as to the topic.

_EVAPORATE THE CHILD OF POSEIDON!_

_SEND HER BACK TO THE FIELDS OF ASPHODEL!_

Percy's eyes darkened, biting the inside of his cheek, "She's my biggest 'What-If'...but what does she have to do with anything?" He asked, eyes screaming _"Sorry!"_ when he glanced at Annabeth, who didn't seem to happy about hearing about Calypso.

"She loved you. Yea, it might have been part of her curse...but she loved you." Leo uttered through grit teeth.

"Wait, how do you kno-"

"I landed on her island during the Giant War, when you two were Down Under." He said, Percy and Annabeth shivered from the memories as they were still trying to get over what went down in Tartarus. Even after all those years they still had vivid nightmares.

"I promised her...I'd get her out. I swore on Styx," thunder boomed outside, "that she'd be free. And when I finally got to her..."

After defeating the Earth Mother, Leo and Festus had somehow navigated their way to her island. The physician's cure bringing Leo back from death, they were lost and it was perfect. When they landed, Calypso was packed and ready to leave, Leo had never felt happier.

"I...I promised her I'd get her off that island." Like all things he did, Leo felt he had failed another task and had to add it to his ever-growing list of failures.

"You did! You told me you wanted to save her, because she helped you off the island!" Percy said, looking at Annabeth for help but she was occupied with Piper at the moment.

"I told you how I found her island again, _'an oath to keep with final breath'_. When we left that cursed island...I guess her love for me wasn't as strong as her love for another." Leo furrowed his eyebrows at the Son of Poseidon. Contrary to the popular belief of Percy being stupid, he was actually quite clever. A fast thinker. Leo had said all he needed to, Percy could connect the dots and it showed on his face as realization dawned on it.

"Leo...I'm...I'm sorry...I told her about Annabeth. About my plans all those years ago." Leo could hear the sincerity in his voice, it made it hard for Leo to hate him. The Voice was more persuasive though.

_WHY DIDN'T HE WARN YOU, THEN? HE COULD'VE PREVENTED ALL THIS!_

"When we left the island, we were happy for a while. She always wanted to see Camp Jupiter though, I told her about your plans to go there with Annabeth. I figured you'd have the chance when we defeated Gaea." This was the hard part, Leo remembered it all like it was yesterday, "She wanted to see _you_. I guess she figured I was an easy way in...never trust an immortal." A tear spilled over his eye but he wiped it away quickly, looking at Percy with sadness and anger in his eyes.

_YOU DOUBT HE DIDN'T TRICK YOU? YOU SAW HOW HAPPY HE WAS WHEN YOU FINALLY BROUGHT HER TO JUPITER! HE KNEW ALL ALONG!_

It made sense. Leo finally caved and brought Calypso to Camp Jupiter, heartbroken, where she was shut down by Percy. Leaving her a shell of what she once was, broken. It was one thing being denied on a cursed island, it was a whole other thing being denied in public at Camp Jupiter. She didn't even look at Leo, he was invisible again. Even when word spread that he never died in the first place, he was the seventh wheel once more...and it pissed him off.

"Woah, L-Leo man! Chill!" An orange glow was cast on the demigods' faces behind Leo, he turned around to see the cloth draped over the piano had caught fire. He must've done it earlier, just took a while to grow to be noticeable. Like him, he had to grow to be noticed.

_THEN GROW, MECHANIC!_

Leo turned towards the growing fire, and like a campfire, he stoked the flames to let it grow to twice his size. He could feel the heat and it felt good to feel again. Like being in the desert your whole life and finally touching a drop of water as it rolled over your dry skin.

_Look what they've done...they've numbed you..._

_Leave them to sort out their mess, the shifter and the witch already know of their mistakes._

_There's no need to drag it out any more._

_Now they know._

The Voice was right, it was all their fault. They were the reason why he felt so alienated, why he was alone, why he just wanted to rest.

He glanced at the group yelling at him to control the fire and he simply walked away, the flames growing and spreading around the ballroom as he broke into a run.

_Good. You're almost strong enough._

_You showed them no one can control you._

_Like a flame, you can help or hinder them._

_I can help or hinder them...I just want them to feel how I feel._

_You just did._

Leo was running towards the Labyrinth, his only sanctuary, his safe house. Maybe it was because it brought him back to the coliseum fighting Yorgos, he felt like he had meaning and a purpose. Which was weird because he was being killed in _that_ labyrinth, but it grounded him somehow. They didn't know the Labyrinth like he did, they would waste away another seven years trying to find him once more. He passed some of the residents of the hotel and told them of an out of control fire and to evacuate; hopefully they did. He couldn't stick around to find out, he could feel himself slipping between the fingers of sanity like liquid madness. When he reached his room he saw countless young demigods running out of the hotel.

_At least they're safe..._

_Hopefully_ they _aren't, though._

He opened the Labyrinth and walked into the dark tunnels once more, already knowing where he would go next He never heard the semi-truck crash into the front of the hotel. Nor did he hear the monsters navigating the Labyrinth trying to find him. He was in his own little world again, trying to pick up the pieces.

* * *

Leo emerged from the Labyrinth in the Pittsburgh office, dusty and partially destroyed. Like always. When he opened that door, he never thought he would see monsters inside. Cyclopes waging a small war against the children of Hephaestus and Vulcan. There weren't that many but they held their own against the small army. Explosions shook the walls as they tossed grenades at their attackers, wrenches clattered against axes and clubs wielded by the enemy, and severely damaged automatons hobbled around to try and help.

He ran as fast as he could down the stairs to help the demigods, their spirits lifted as they saw their brother. A guy with steel girder's for arms had half his face bandaged, making him look like a poor pirate; bandages were dirty with blood and gunpowder.

"Nice of you to drop by, Leo!" Edward yelled over the battle as he threw a dagger right in a cyclops' eye, "How did they find this place? I _thought_ you said it was safe! _"_

"I don't know! I did! Wait, cross those wires before you throw that!" Leo screamed at a young demigod, when the wires were crossed the grenade exploded the largest out of all of the previous ones. It wasn't a huge warehouse but Leo could assume there were several small groups scattered throughout the premise; in the loading bay, the parking lot, garage, and here. Four total...probably. Maybe some demigods holding their own away from the groups flying solo.

With great speed, Leo pulled out his two trusty hammers from his tool-belt and jumped over the barrier they were hiding behind. He was followed by the others with their own weapons, but none were on fire like Leo's. The small group of five demigods, including Leo, formed an arrow formation and fought their way towards the warehouse doors; hoping to find the others when they escaped.

A cyclopes lunged for Edward but he brought two daggers into his assailant's torso and threw him towards a smaller group of monsters with ease, Hephaestus kids weren't the best fighters but Leo had tried to teach everyone how to survive in a fight. Edward took that job over when he arrived, and it showed with the other demigods' abilities.

They were a killing machine, wave after wave of Cyclopes fell before them as they reached their goal. A daughter of Vulcan, Audrey, pressed the door controls causing the doors to lift up and out of the way; allowing them an escape. Sunlight blasted into the warehouse to reveal a worse situation than what was once inside. The demigods of Pittsburgh were all lined up on the ground, gravely wounded and cuffed behind their backs with countless cyclopes standing above them.

From the crowd emerged the daughter of Athena. A sizable slash on her forehead, her blonde hair in a crude bun and two swords in her hands, she stepped in front of the captured demigods with a grim face. Leo had seen her die, LV said she was dead...

_H-how..._

_Leonteus...he lied to us._

"Hey Leo, Yorgos wants to talk to you." Julia Servont said over the roar of monsters, her gray eyes bore into Leo's soul as his comrades' weapons clattered to the ground. "No one leaves the coliseum without his say...you're going back to finish the fight."


	13. The Cloudless Sunset

Julia Servont was not the caring Athena girl Leo met during his imprisonment. She was rougher, tougher, and all kinds of mean. One of the other Hephaestus kids next to Leo was almost killed for looking at Julia wrong. Apparently, she was in a 'good mood' today, though, so it was lucky for Leo that she didn't immediately kill him at first sight but decided it'd be better if Yorgos did it.

"Ya know...when that tunnel exploded in the maze, killing the drakon, I heard the roars and the rubble all the way in my cell. I hoped you weren't dead, hoped you would come back for me...instead I was lost in the dirt as you rode off into the sunset." Julia squatted next to Leo, both of her jagged swords, one imperial gold and the other celestial bronze, sheathed on both sides of her hips. She was once beautiful but now with the pink scar glaring at Leo that went from her right eye to the left side of her jaw; she looked cruel. Like a classic movie villain, you could find in a James Bond flick. Julia's words were venom against Leo's brain as he watched with a numb body. She was supposed to be dead.

"Leonteus said if I helped we could escape together. Said I was the key to the whole plan. Look where that got me? Trusting that Son of Nemesis…."

_Son of Nemesis?_

_It all makes sense now. Why he saved us._

_Why he saved me._

_And why he didn't save her._

_I could have saved her..._

_Leonteus said she was gone. Now we see why. Nemesis had planned this all along…_

She stood up and raised a fist in the air, a couple cyclopes grunted in acknowledgment while each Hephaestus demigod was pushed onto their knees in front of a hulking one-eyed beast. One by one the ends of the cyclops' weapons were brought down upon the demigods, knocking them out cold as the Hephaestus and Vulcan children fell to the ground. Edward looked at Leo out of the corner of his dark eyes and nodded slightly, before the end of a club sent him to the ground.

Leo's turn.

Seconds passed.

Minutes.

Felt like hours were wasted waiting to be knocked out.

He heard movement behind him as a womanly voice whispered in his ear, "You still have to finish your fight against Yorgos, Leo..." Julia sneered as Leo was sent sprawling to the dirt, vision going black and body limp.

Leo wondered how it all went wrong, tracing his steps back to when the maze exploded in his face.

* * *

Rubble held him down, along with a dead baby drakon limp across his leg, as the coliseum exploded into chaos. Leo's ears were ringing, vision blurry, and body aching but he heard several more explosions. He counted at least five. The lonely mechanic blinked ever so slowly, a blink that might have lasted hours. Like a deep sleep. Or when a person wakes up in the middle of the night and decides to sleep five more minutes but when they next wake up they find that it has been five hours. Leo closed his eyes to blink and when he opened them, he found himself in a cold, dark room with barely enough light to see his legs. He was up against a wall, legs sprawled out before him and arms to his sides.

"Wake up, Leo. I didn't do all this just for you to take a nap!" A yelled as he smacked Leo's face. Blinking a few times, Leo coughed and nodded slightly.

"Wh-what..." His head was still ringing and his body ached, but at least he was alive. For now.

"No time to explain kid, I'm just here to bust ya out of this joint. Can you walk?" The manly voice asked and was met with a feeble attempt at standing by Leo. His legs were shaking and Leo just wanted to sleep.

_Maybe you should just sleep. Sleep forever, Leo._

The Voice said, no hint of emotion in at all. Maybe he should. He could just sleep his days away, never having to face another monster again. Never having to live with himself and what he did, all the lies he'd been told through his life. The thought of sleeping it all away was a good one, it wasn't the first time he considered it.

With his vision clearing, Leo was able to put a face to the person who woke him up from his 'nap'. He wore red patchy clothing. The announcer from Leo's fight with Yorgos. Leo couldn't help but wonder if this was part of the fight or why the announcer was even helping him, a weak demigod, in the first place. Maybe it would be best to sleep it all away. Leave the problems to someone else for a change.

_Or you can get up and walk it off. Like a real Valdez._

Back slumped against the wall, Leo grit his teeth as he tried standing up once more and used the wall for support. The announcer had heard something outside and walked to a barely standing wooden door to check outside, mumbling to himself and counting on his fingers. Eventually, the announcer turned to Leo and forced his arm around Leo's own shoulder, giving Leo the support he needed to walk.

"No time to wait around for you to find your legs, Bambi. We've got to move, _now_." The announcer said, opening the door with one hand as both he and Leo walked into the torch-lit stone hallways. They walked for a few minutes, making turns at each crossroads and hiding behind a corner as cyclopes barreled past in heavy armor.

"Wh-who are you? Are you LV?" Leo had found his voice, his mouth was dry like he had eaten cotton. He had to tough it out though, Leo had to know who was helping him. If he could be trusted. This announcer. The one who had, for some reason or another, helped him survive the exploding coliseum.

"Had to write LV so they'd think you were going crazy instead of me slipping you that note, Leo. You can call me Leonteus, now." Leonteus said as they slipped into a small room, several cyclops marching by.

"Leonteus, like the Spartan?" Leo asked, to think a guy who fought against the Persians was helping him.

"No, that's Leonidus. I'm Leonteus. There's a difference."

_I don't trust him. Why's he sticking his neck out for you? He obviously wants something, Leo._

"Alright, let's go. It's not far now." Leonteus whispered, opening the door slowly. Leo was tired of being fed just enough information to keep him alive, he wanted to know the full story. He was tired of half-truths and guessing. Slamming the door shut with his free hand, Leo furrowed his eyebrows and tried to push himself away from Leonteus.

"Who are you?" Leo asked, leaning against a dusty stone wall on his right. He glanced down to assess the damage to his body and was shocked at how badly he was injured. Leo had major cuts down his body, no shirt, bruises covering his torso, dust wrapping around him like a veil, and what felt like a sprained ankle. Gritting his teeth, he told himself that he had survived worse. Getting blown out of the sky by Gaea was worse.

_Camp._

Leo shook his head, couldn't worry about them right now.

_What if I die for real? They'll never know..._

_They didn't know you were_ alive _most of the time, Leo. They can't help you now._

"Leo, we **really** don't have time for this." Leonteus hissed, an eye looking out a crack in the door for any signs of trouble. He glanced back at Leo, but Leo made it clear he wasn't moving when he crossed both of his arms and squinted.

"Okay fine. I'm Leonteus, I was a defender of Thebes against the Seven. I was eventually killed by Hippomedon." Leonteus rattled off the information like he was reading a book, eyes clearly showing how annoyed his was.

"Why the 'V', then?" Leo asked, he needed to know _exactly_ who he was working with.

"Hippomedon was the Fifth of the Seven and I was his fifth kill when they stormed Thebes." Leonteus looked like he was ready to leave Leo in the dust by the way he was peeking outside, "Now can we go now? We've wasted too much time already!"

"Two more questions." Leo retorted, steadying himself against the wall, "One, why are you helping me? Two, isn't really a question but more of a demand. We need to rescue Julia."

Leonteus' eyes bore right into Leo's, questioning the mechanic's motives, before responding, "My godly parent tasked me with aiding you lest I risk my own demise."

"Who's your parent?" Leo prodded for more information but was simply shrugged off by Leonteus.

"Secondly, I'm afraid we are too far to even venture back to save Julia Servont. The explosives blocked the entrance to the holding cells as well as weakened the frames around the coliseum. She will most likely be dead when Yorgos gets his hands on her, believing she knows of how you escaped."

His whole body felt heavy, Leo stumbled backward as his hands and face felt numb.

_She...she's dead?_

_Most likely._

_Because of me._

_Why..._

_A monster is a monster._

"Leo, I'm terribly sorry but your friend is gone. We must leave, _now_ or you will end up like her. Don't let her death be in vain." Leonteus whispered, placing a soft hand on Leo's shoulder. "She was the one who got you your fight with Yorgos, you know. Without her, you wouldn't be escaping right now. Honor her death by leaving this gods forsaken place."

"I...but we..." Leo stammered in response, Julia had given her life to see him set free but not herself. He'd given his life for his old friends, Leo deserved to be saved as well. But all the women he seemed to fall in love with managed to leave him.

_You'll always be the outsider, the seventh wheel._

_Left alone to be left alone. Always the lone traveler in the tunnels of the Labyrinth. Father of orphans and outcasts._

Leonteus gripped Leo's arm and dragged his numb body through the doorway. There weren't any cyclopes nearby, Leo was almost free. He felt like his brain was on autopilot, no thoughts were going through his brain for a change. When he came to, after traveling farther away from the coliseum with Leonteus, they came to a dead end.

_He's lead us to our death!_

_Nemesis sent him! She plots our death even to this day!_

_Gaea's servants still walk this world, one is right in front of you in red!_

_Hera is planning terrible things for you once more! This man is her way to do it!_

So many theories ran through his head as Leonteus seemed to be staring at the wall. Had this all been a plan by Nemesis or Gaea or Hera? Or was someone else playing with Leo like a broken toy dangling above the trash compactor?

Just before Leo spoke, he saw a faint blue glow come from in front of Leonteus. Leo shuffled to the right to see what was glowing when he saw a Delta on the stone wall glowing blue.

"What the..." Leo muttered to himself as the 'dead end' slid back and to the right to reveal a small dark doorway to a brightly lit hallway. It was tiled, white walls, and fluorescent light bulbs dangled above. Leo's eyes burned from the new light, only ever been in darkness for so much time. Fearing becoming blind, Leo clenched his eyes shut as Leonteus shoved him forward through the doorway.

"Leo, this is where we part. They can't follow you through here, it's still in its rebirth stage and is ever changing." Leonteus told Leo, hand hovering over the Delta symbol as Leo's eyes barely opened to a squint.

"What do you mean?" The mechanic questioned, eyes finally adjusting to the light as he saw Leonteus close the wall between them. Leo was now looking at a white tiled wall with a glowing blue triangle in the top right corner.

"Thanks for the assist there, Leo." The mechanic muttered, his face changing from annoyed to a slight smirk as he realized what had just happened, "I must seem like I'm talking to myself." Leo told The Voice with a light chuckle.

_Well we wouldn't want people to think you were crazy, now would we?_

The sarcasm nearly threw Leo down the hall with how hard The Voice smacked him with it. He then went back to inspecting the wall with the blue triangle on it, his whole body ached with the need to go and save Julia and get more answers from Leonteus.

_The Athena child is dead, mechanic. Best remove her from you head as fast as possible._

_How do you know? She could be back there trying to escape too!_

_Leonteus wasn't lying when he said she would face the wrath of the Cyclops, Yorgos._

_Oh, so_ now _you trust him?_

_I know when people are lying. Even now you still doubt just how much power I have? Why?_

_You've got no power here. You're not even_ real.

_It's going to be an interesting day when you realize just how_ wrong _you are, Leo._

_As soon as I get out of this place, you're gone._

No response.

Shaking his head, agitated, Leo silently concluded that The Voice and Leonteus were most likely right about Julia Servont. She wasn't very strong when he left her, so even if she were to try to escape...she'd be killed quickly. His eyes welled up like water balloons in the middle of summer, another person he had cared for was gone from his life.

A recurring theme in everybody's favorite novel, "The Lonely Mechanic and The Voice".

Back to the blue Delta on the wall, Leo had to choose to either go left towards what he thought looked like a set of stairs or follow the blinding hallway to his right. He figured he wasn't ready to tackle stairs yet, so left was a bad idea. Leo clung to the wall with one hand as he traversed the painfully white, luminescent hallway. Leaving small traces of blood wherever his hand left, like a toddler finger painting their new room without parental permission. Leo held his ribs, covered in bruises and cuts, whilst walking for what he thought was hours. He came to a dull blue steel door, his hand leaving a blood imprint on it as he felt it.

Had to make sure there wasn't anything dangerous behind door number one. Focusing his abilities, he tried to sense any machines behind the strange steel door eventually concluding that there wasn't anything dangerous behind it. Leo slowly opened the door but when it opened about fifty percent of the way it hit something, a metal shelf. A bucket and chemical bottles tumbled to the floor like a janitor's hailstorm. A mop leaned out of the same door, it was hiding behind the shelf, as if to ask if Leo needed any help. The mechanic had apparently made a mess of the janitor's closest. He quickly extended his hands to try and catch as many chemical bottles and buckets as he could, grabbing hold of five as the mop handle hit his head with a bonk.

_Um...I'll just..._

Leo thought to himself as he looked down the hallway both sides, waiting to see if anyone was coming to investigate all the racket he was making like he worked in a sports factory. Deciding that no one was coming, he dropped all the bottles and let the mop clatter to the tiled floor. With a small shrug, Leo continued down the hallway until he reached a dead end.

Finally, he reached what he assumed was the exit to this eye sore of a hallway. A steel door, a bar going across it horizontally and a bright yellow sticker that read "Maintenance Exit". Tilting his head, Leo slowly opened the steel door praying no alarms would go off.

Leo thought he knew blinding from being in that white hallway, but that was nothing compared to the intensity of the sun setting behind a tree line. His eyes clamped shut like an agoraphobic's door. Slowly opening one eye, he walked out of the hallway and leaned up against the building's wall and slid down to sit as his eyes adjusted to the natural light. He'd been underground, literally, for at least five-hundred days. He'd been on the run for almost two full years, most of it underground or being chased by monsters.

His eyes, now adjusted to the world, climbed their way up to the pink, purple, and blue sky. If there was anyone around the building the lonely mechanic sat next to, they would say a homeless Latino elf cried like a newborn up at the sky.

But to Leo, it was raining down on him. That evening of the cloudless sunset, it started to rain.

He wept until his throat was soar. It was hard to decide whether he was crying out of happiness or sadness, more likely it was both. Leo half expected The Voice to interrupt his personal moment, but even something as sinister as The Voice couldn't put an end to the mechanic's emotions. Everything had been kept up, bottled up like soda. Except the bottles were constantly being shaken and threatening to explode all over the place.

Eventually, Leo stared up at the sky and watched the sun make its grave behind the hills and trees. Wind sent shivers down Leo's body but he just grinned all the same; he hadn't felt the wind in ages.

With shaky legs, he stood to his feet and followed the road away from the closed mall Leo was resting at. Leo didn't know where he was or what day it was, but he did know he needed a place to stay. So he did what he was best at, running, or in this case walking, away from what was behind him to some place better; hopefully.

The Voice had gone away for a few days as Leo trekked towards Manhattan, the mall he emerged from being not too far from NYC. He wasn't entirely sure why he was heading to the City of the Gods, but that was all he had known. At least there, he could get back on his feet. Leo had to stay under bridges, in alleys, and once in a dumpster as he traversed the concrete jungle.

Days had passed, he was taking his time as he traveled through Manhattan. He had gotten back on his feet in that short amount of time; found scraps to eat, made friends with another homeless man with a bushy black beard that looked like he had burned it, and even found some old clothes to wear to stay warm. Leo was close, he could see the Empire State Building standing high above the other buildings as he walked down the sidewalk. When he passed a fire hydrant, he slowed down. His feet felt like fifty pound weights and his head throbbed and ached.

Flashes of Piper sitting across from him in some stands eating sandwiches. Setting someone's pants on fire.

Leo shook his head violently, the pain going through his head was worse than getting smacked by a sledgehammer. He fell to his knees, the sidewalks empty in this rough part of town. On his hands and knees, Leo collapsed on his side from the pain as his vision went cloudy. The last thing he remembered seeing was a rundown hotel.


	14. The Three Stooges

"Percy, stop the fire!" Frank shouted as part of a rug lit aflame. Hazel tried to corral the three younger demigods, Matt, Izzy and Ron, away from the flames.

"Really? I was going to make it way bigger! How does setting it to Level: Volcano sound?" Percy retorted, both of his hands outstretched. He had an orange tint to his body as he stood dangerously close to the raging fire. A gust of wind rushing over him as Jason rushed over to Piper, sparks in his eyes to try and protect his wife.

"Jason, not helping! Wind kinda makes fire difficult!" Annabeth screamed, using a nearby tablecloth to smother a patch of flames close by.

"What's taking so long, Perce?" Piper questioned, she couldn't charmspeak fire and when it came to fires she really only knew how to make them bigger. Not a useful skill in this situation.

"Yeah, I thought you were supposed to use the water in the air?" Jason asked.

"There _is_ no water in the air! What's your excuse, run out of lightning?" Percy responded with closed eyes and a furrowed brow. Reyna studied the situation as best she could, right now they had to either rely on Percy to douse the flames with water, Jason to fly them out or Frank to shapeshift into an octopus or something. Jason's plan would take too long and if he used more wind it could make the flames even more uncontrollable. Frank could get hurt but it was a viable option. Percy seemed to be having trouble with getting some water.

Reyna tried concentrating but the light shining in her eyes certainly wasn't helping.

Wait, a light.

She turned on her heels towards the light, the sun peeking through a small curtained window. They hadn't noticed the windows before, the curtains were so thick that they absorbed the sunlight and made the ballroom as dark as Tartarus, but at least they had an escape route.

"There's a window!" She yelled at Annabeth, who, along with Matt and Ron, ran to the window to pull the curtains away. Light spilled into the room like opening a door underwater, it filled the room with natural light. Had they had been in a different situation, Annabeth thought the ballroom would have been a beautiful place for a wedding or family reunion but if she didn't act fast, it could be the site of several deaths. The blonde demigod placed a hand on the window, dusty from age, and studied the glass pane for a moment.

"Uh, Wise Girl, we can admire the glass-work later!" Percy screamed, motioning for her to step away as he broke into a sprint, planning to jump through it like an action hero.

"Found it!" Annabeth exclaimed, bashing a point on the window with the butt of her dagger in the process. Cracks formed immediately just before Percy crashed into the glass. The window fell to neat pieces and allowed for others to follow the son of Poseidon easily. One by one the demigods jumped through the bright open window into the outside world, each landing on the dirt covered, cracked sidewalk with a body shaking thud.

Pedestrians walked by without a single care in the world, let alone the ability to notice several young adults covered in soot and sweat sitting on the sidewalk. The mist had, yet again, obscured their world from another. Some might call them lucky, others might call them boring...

"Fire still creeps me out..." Frank panted, lying face up on the sidewalk. Hazel giggled and helped him up along with the others. Percy stood up last but swayed where he stood, falling into Jason's arms as he collapsed.

"Easy there, Sea Legs." Jason muttered, thinking that Percy should lay off the sweets for a while, "Take a seat. We'll try and get you some water."

"Thanks," Percy sat on the sidewalk, sweat rolling off of his face as he stretched out with his senses for water. He could feel the pipeline beneath the concrete jungle of New York. A fire hydrant was close. He slowly stood up, with the help of Annabeth, and walked a few feet to the hydrant.

"Everyone else okay?" Reyna asked, checking on the younger demigods herself.

"We're good!" Matt waved, his face practically black from the soot, with a bright, toothy grin.

Percy concentrated on the water in the hydrant, willing it to come out to play and make him feel better. Salt water was best but any water was good for the son of the literal water god. He was pushed aside by Ron, his bright red hair darkened from the fire, as he took the top of the fire hydrant and twisted it.

"You're a walking monkey wrench," Percy said as water exploded from the hydrant like they struck oil. At that exact moment, another crash echoed along the streets. Hazel jumped into the air with a loud yelp as everyone turned towards the source.

A large semi-truck had crashed into the hotel, the trailer painted red like it was from a post-apocalyptic world with spikes nailed all on it. The double doors slammed open as several cyclopes, Annabeth counted twenty, emerged and stormed the hotel.

"Out of the fire and into the frying pan..." Jason uttered, all of them now soaked from the fire hydrant.

"I don't think that's the saying, Jason." Piper shook her head as more one-eyed beasts jumped from the truck.

"Great, so what's the plan?" Everyone turned to Frank and Reyna, even Annabeth. Both the Roman demigods looked to each other as they thought through each of their battle plans. They had all trained together not only during the Giant War but after as well, combining Grecian and Roman tactics to form a perfect team. But they hadn't fought together in a while, let alone trained together in ages...

"King Kong in an island storm?" Frank offered, Reyna shook her head and had a counter attack.

"Rich Genius with an Aquarium in the back?" Frank was the one to shake his head, they needed a diversion but not one that split them up so much. At once, like a light bulb went off in their heads, they spoke together.

"Three Stooges at Water World." The two Roman strategists looked towards Matt, Izzy, and Roman with a glint in their eyes as the other demigods looked confused. They hadn't heard of that formation before.

"I have a feeling that I'm Water World..." Percy sighed, his entire face soaking wet from standing right next to the fire hydrant; although, he looked like he was feeling better.

"That makes us the..." Izzy began, scratching her head.

"The Three Stooges." Ron huffed, cracking his neck with a furrowed brow as Matt grinned.

"Precisely." Reyna nodded, she filled the four demigods in on the plan while Frank told Jason, Hazel, and Annabeth their part of it. While Percy and the Three Stooges caused a distraction out front, hopefully drawing a large number of the cyclopes in the process, the three of them would go around back and round up any people and fight off any remaining monsters.

"Wait so where will I be?" Jason scratched his head, he didn't fit into the plan at all.

"Yeah, me too," Hazel asked, raising an eyebrow at Frank who smiled.

"Remember Leo's room and the Delta symbol?"

"Frank, _no_. We're not going in there again!" Annabeth furrowed her brow but Frank held his hands up in defense.

"It's not the best plan but how do you expect to hide a ton of demigods if we can't hide them in the hotel? There are too many cyclopes here to fight and make it out alive. The Labyrinth is our only option. Hazel _should_ be able to navigate through it since it's underground and Jason is there for protection. If anything gets too bad, he can just fly her out and we'll go with Plan B."

"What's Plan B?"

"We run across New York to the Empire State Building."

"I'm sure that'll go over well…" Piper giggled to herself as she thought about fifty children wandering up to the front desk and cramming into the elevator for a field trip.

"That's why it's Plan B," Frank stated as Reyna, Percy, Matt, Izzy, and Ron sauntered over to them. Percy seemed to have the same reservations about the Labyrinth that Annabeth did but everyone else seemed fine, they didn't know the true horrors of the maze under the Earth. The two demigods needed Rachel to navigate the twists and turns while Luke Castellan had Ariadne's Thread. Somehow, Leo was able to navigate it on his own and they had none of those things to help them down there. They could very easily, ninety-five percent chance by Annabeth's calculations, die down there.

* * *

It wasn't long before everyone was in position. Percy and the three children sprang to action as soon as the others were near the fire escape. Even though the fire was still raging, it was decided that Jason might as well use as much as he could to create a path for them to walk through safely.

"So I can't just snuff out the flames with wind?" He asked as they watched around the corner of the alley where Percy and his crew ran towards the truck. With a yell from the demigod of Poseidon, several cyclopes emerged and fighting ensued. Izzy had materialized a bow and some arrows, looking to prod and annoy any beasts in sight to try and bring them into the street, while Ron and Matt kept them busy and bottle-necked for Percy to hit them with jets of water from the fire hydrant.

"Well, yes and no." Annabeth nodded, motioning for Jason to climb back into the hotel's ballroom window, "Fire needs oxygen and what you use is just air, primarily nitrogen, which is a natural 'fire stopper' but it's had time to grow and air is the primary reason forest fires double in size so quickly. At this point, you'd just be helping it move further into the hotel."

"Uh..." Jason zoned out as he helped Hazel and Piper into the ballroom.

Annabeth sighed, it was just like talking to Percy, "Big wind is bad. Small wind is good for the time being."

"Got it!" Jason nodded, his perfect grin shining as he turned towards the flames with outstretched arms. With everyone back in the hotel, he was able to create a small path for them to run through back through the doors; the fire hadn't left the ballroom but it would follow them if the door was opened. It was a chance they had to take.

"I don't see how _any_ mother can love that face! I mean, look at your eye!" They heard several taunts from outside by their friends towards the monsters, roars followed soon after and the sound of metal scraping metal.

"Right, you know the plan. We'll meet in Room 101 as soon as we can." Reyna nodded, bringing Piper and Annabeth with her to round up lost demigods while Jason, Frank, and Hazel ran through the main lobby to Room 101. As soon as they reached the main lobby, Frank turned into a large bear and barreled a path for his friends to sneak past while he fought the monsters inside.

"You guys stink! I keep trying to give you a shower but you're just caked in gross!" Percy shouted, kicking a cyclops away as water catapulted him into the side of the hotel like a fly on flypaper. With watery tentacles, he watched the three demigods' backs as best as he could. They were trained but sloppy in how they fought.

Ron had stolen a hammer from a cyclops and was using it at the front lines like a wrecking ball while Matt threw rocks and taunted any enemy. If any cyclopes tried to reach Izzy, raining arrows from behind the line, they were pulled back by either Matt's taunts and annoying tactics or Percy physically pushing them away and back into the semi-truck.

"Mind if I borrow this?" Matt questioned, picking up a dagger from a cyclops Percy tripped. The dagger was perfectly made, glinting bronze, and he threw it right into the gut of a cyclops. It didn't die, but it sure did make the monster angry with the small demigod.

"STOP NOW!" It yelled as it charged forward only to get clobbered by a hammer and punched by a watery fist.

"This is better than target prac—what the Zeus is _that_?" She yelled, letting an arrow fly sideways and embed itself into one of the doors of the truck. She saw what looked like a giant bear charging through the lobby like a runaway train, cyclopes falling to the ground as it slashed and roared in their faces.

"That's my cousin. Or is it brother? Our family line is really screwed up..." Percy grinned, holding a cyclops upside down in watery hands as he shook it like he was trying to get gold coins from its pockets.

A roar erupted from Frank followed by another roar of a different kind, he had turned into a gorilla and was boxing his way through the monsters. Ron nearly swung at him out of surprise before it slammed a cyclops through a window that was nearing Matt.

"Thanks, Kong!" Matt shouted over the battle, wiping sweat and water from his face as he kicked a cyclops in the groin.

A scream pierced the lobby as several demigods ran past the battle towards Room 101, towards the escape route. Ron punched a cyclops in the face at the same time a pumpkin connected with the back of its head, orange juice flying everywhere. With amazement, he looked at his hands for a moment to hear Piper's laugh; firing food from the Cornucopia into the battle as she ran past with the others.

Jason and Hazel reached Room 101 easily, there weren't that many cyclopes on the way and the ones that found their way in front of them were soon a pile of golden dust. Hazel's hand slammed on the dark wooden door when they reached it, a shaky hand turning the knob as they entered the dark room. She'd heard the stories of the Labyrinth, most were definitely made up, though. I mean, there just _couldn't_ be a nest of Hydras down there, or a rogue group of demigods building a Dark Camp, or a Sphinx hiding away...could there?

"We don't have much time. Find the Delta, I'll watch the door and try to g—oompf," Jason was cut off as a cyclops tackled him from the door, two more following after it as Jason struggled to twist free. Hazel could have helped but she needed to find the Delta first, that was the plan. Jason was an excellent fighter, he was Praetor of Camp Jupiter after all; he could handle himself.

She scoured the room, looking for a faded delta in the dark. Leo didn't have any lights in here, it seemed to be a perpetually dark room but if the maze opened on the empty wall then the button should be on the same wall...

Her eyes glanced over several papers but they looked like the ravings of a mad man. Plans for a small bomb with a remote detonator, what looked like plans to give automatons a voice, and a...was that a jetpack? She shook her head, but if the place was coming down then they couldn't let these plans go with them. She stuffed all the papers into several binders nearby, glancing at each one as she went, in an attempt to save his work. If they got out of here and found him, these designs could change everything.

With all the papers gone from the workbench, her gaze fell to a button in the corner. It was hidden under several stacks of paper concerning major fires in history like Leo was trying to keep it out of reach from anyone. Hazel knew she shouldn't have been wasting time but she _had_ to know what was going on with Leo. It was apparent, now more than ever, that he wasn't well; let alone stable. Although his plans were breathtaking, they had notes scribbled on the sides that seemed like they belonged in an insane asylum.

_Shut up._

_Kill it?_

_Can it take a form?_

_Did they have one as well?_

_What about the dreams?_

_Seventh Wheel_

Several phrases were repeated in his notes, all about a wheel and dreams and other people. It all sent shivers down Hazel's spine. But they had spent years tracking down their friend, they couldn't leave him alone. He didn't deserve any of this and he needed to know he had so many people around to help him through anything...

A small click came from the button as Hazel pushed it. It was the same color as the desk so if someone did come snooping around, they'd have a hard time finding it. Hazel merely found it because a paper got caught on it, pure luck.

The wall above the work bench shook, dust falling, as a portion of it slid away to reveal a large cork board littered with pictures, scraps of papers, photos, red yarn...the whole nine yards. It looked like a conspiracy wall by Hazel's best guess. There was a picture drawn of Victorian England with the dates 1212 and 1666 scribbled onto it, a painting of Chicago 1871, a black and white photo of San Francisco 1906, and several others. All of them had raging fires in the center of them.

Along with the fire photos were passages from books about ghosts, psychology, demons, and how one handled stress. Different colored yarn went from each passage to several fires, along with photos of people to accompany the fires. Hazel didn't have time to make out any of it so she hastily pulled on the cork board to remove it from the wall and placed it on the table with the binders of papers.

Dust exploded from the hallway as electricity surged from a direction, Jason was still taking care of the cyclopes but at least he was alive. Hazel had to hurry and find the delta or it would all be in vain. Her eyes and hands skimmed the barren wall as quickly as she could manage before they drifted over it. The bottom right corner of the wall, she'd found the entrance to the Labyrinth.

"Found it!" She yelled as more dust exploded followed by a spear being embedded into the wall on the other side.

"Great! Help please!" Jason shouted as the crude spear was pulled from the wall, Hazel ran out to help with her cavalry sword in hand.

Annabeth ran down the hallways with Piper and Reyna, they had amassed a sizable crowd of demigods behind them from the kitchen but were told others had ran to the gym area. Luckily, the cyclopes hadn't managed to make it far into the hotel so they didn't have to worry about any fighting. Piper held a small boy with blond hair and more freckles than anyone could imagine on a person, a blanket wrapped around him and a stuffed, three-headed dog in his arms. Reyna had given some of the older kids weapons from the kitchen if they didn't have any; steak knives, large cookie sheets as shields, spatulas, anything sharp they could use.

They reached the gym to see Victoria, the daughter of Hypnos, holding a bunch of notebooks in her arms as she calmed a small girl down with black and red hair.

"It'll be okay Rach, we'll get out of here, promise." She said before she yelped from Annabeth placing a hand on her shoulder.

"We're getting you out of here, _all_ of you." She looked at the rest of the kids, they had saved about twenty by Annabeth's best guess, "Is this everyone?"

"We don't know...but we're usually pretty small around this time of year." Victoria shrugged with slanted eyebrows, her face full of worry if there were other people in the hotel.

"We have to go. We can't risk anyone's life." Reyna stated, trying to help a boy about Matt's age gather his small backpack so they could leave.

"But leave kids behind, Reyna? I can't do that..." Piper sighed, the boy in her hands smiling as Victoria played with him and his stuffed Cerberus.

"We'll take everyone to 101, someone has to tell the Stooges and Waterworld we're ready anyways. Look for people on the way but make it quick." Reyna nodded to Piper as Victoria took the boy in her arms, "I've got a sinking feeling in my belly and I'm pretty sure it's not the fire."

"What fire?" Victoria's eyes widened and jaw dropped.

"Doesn't matter, it's in the ballroom. We'll be long gone before it gets to where we're going." Annabeth patted Victoria's back as she ushered people out of the gym.

Piper smiled softly to her friends as she ran the way they came, back towards the lobby to let them know they were ready to leave the hotel. Her mind racing from what Leo told them. No, what Leo helped them realize. After all, this time, they were still the Gods' play things. Hera's switch was still affecting everyone, the consequences of the Giant War still playing a part in their lives. Piper didn't know what to do.

On one hand, she had loved Leo. But on the other, even after finding the memories to be false ones, she loved Jason. Thanks to Hera, and probably her mother since she so adored love drama, she was caught between a rock and a hard place.

Piper slid on the rug as she rounded the last corner, seeing Jason and Hazel stab a cyclops in the gut as it turned to dust. Piper had checked as many rooms as she could on her way but found no one, she knew Annabeth and Reyna would take the long way around to give her some time but they'd be close behind now.

"We've got everyone, we ready to leave?" Piper panted as Jason placed a hand on her back, he looked to Hazel who nodded.

"Yeah, we are. I've got some of Leo's notes, though. We should bring those with us." She motioned to the inside of room 101 while Piper gave a thumbs up.

"Great. Jason, can you tell Percy and the others we're ready?" Jason grinned with a nod, he had tasted a small fight but wanted in on the action with the others. He'd heard several loud crashes and roars come from the lobby and yearned to fight with his friends once more.

He broke into a sprint towards the lobby, jumping off the back of a cyclops and landing atop another as a jet of water came rushing towards him. Jason rolled away just in time to see the monster splatter against the wall like a bug on a windshield.

"Ready!" The son of Zeus shouted over the roar of the battle. Frank grinned as he batted a cyclops away with his spear, Ron to his back using a hammer while Matt let loose a cry of victory.

Jason saw Percy pick Izzy up, who looked ready to bash his head in, and use water to propel himself forwards towards the lobby with the others. In a few moments, they had effectively switched positions on the enemy, fighting inside instead of out. Lightning coursed through Jason's fists as he shot forth a fork of it into the face of a cyclops, frying it instantly as the demigods backed away from the fight. There had been too many to try and fight but somehow the five of them had managed to keep them busy without dying. At least fifteen or so monsters stood in front of them and Jason wondered if they should just kill them.

But the three younger demigods seemed surprised monsters had found this place. There didn't seem to be any organization in the event of an attack. Which meant it rarely, if ever, happened. So if this place was compromised, there would be other attacks. A majority of the demigods didn't seem like fighters here, they'd be crushed if the older ones weren't around.

No, they'd have to leave this place forever.

One by one the demigod warriors turned and fled down to room 101, entering the room to see a crowd already piling into the dark hallway of the Labyrinth. Frank and Ron held the door as best they could against the monsters while everyone piled into the darkness.

Percy hesitated. His mind going back all those years to when he first entered the deadly maze. Body swaying under the rush of memories, his heart beating against his chest like the cyclopes on the door and his hands shook. That darkness didn't just make him think about his time in there with Annabeth and Rachel, but to Tartarus as well.

The massive form of Tartarus himself looking down at him. The literal Hell they had to go through to make it out alive. He still had nightmares about the depths that Hades ruled over.

"Percy, come on!" He snapped out of his thoughts to Frank and Ron pulling him into the darkness at the last second. The door exploding forth to reveal cyclopes rushing forward as the walls closed in front of them. The massive group of demigods were enveloped in a cold darkness created by the Labyrinth. They were safe...for now.

"Everyone okay?" Reyna called out, receiving several assurances as she looked to Hazel, "Do you think you can get us somewhere safe?"

"I...I think so. But, where do we go?" She fiddled with a curl in her hair.

Annabeth spoke up from behind her as they moved, "Maybe Leo set up those places near doors of the Labyrinth, we know he's got one near New Rome, one in Detroit, and more. Let's just try and find the closest one and go from there?"

"Sounds as good a plan as any." Jason shrugged, "Which one's the closest?"

"Well with this place, the closest could be the farthest away," Annabeth muttered as she traced her hand along the wall of the maze.

"Sounds peachy..." Jason retorted, falling back to check on Piper and several other kids as the group walked forth. Several demigods walking beneath the surface of the Earth in the fabled Labyrinth that once housed The Minotaur. On one final quest to save their friend and bring him home.

* * *

Leo jolted awake to the sound of running water, like waves on a beach. His heart thumped against his chest immediately.

" _with a high cost, near the deepest reef."_

Was he close to a reef? Was this where he was going to die? His eyes hadn't opened, he feared looking at his death in the face. But he wasn't alone, last he checked. The demigods from Pittsburgh were captured as well. His closest siblings, children of Hephaestus.

He opened his eyes to darkness. His hands touching smooth stone, it felt familiar to his fingers. A torch flickering away behind bars.

_Back in the cell, Leo? What a mess you've made..._

_I got out before, I'll do it again._

_You got out with the help of Nemesis. Now, you're on your own._

_You'll help me._

_Perhaps. We're nearing the end to this all and I just can't help myself I'm so giddy._

Fantastic. He was back in Ron' Tun, the stupid coliseum was still standing. Or, at least, they had made a new one after Leo blew up the old one. He looked around his cell to see a small window in his cell to the one next to his. He shakily stood up, crumbling to the floor due to his legs being asleep and waited a moment for them to wake up.

When he looked through the window of his cell he saw Edward, his second in command at the Pittsburgh hideout, relieving himself in the corner of his cell.

_Well, at least it's not a reef._

_Not yet._

_You try to sound creepy but now I'm curious on how you'd turn pee into a reef._

Leo sat in his cell for but a moment before footsteps could be heard down the stone hallway. Each thump growing closer and closer, metal banging against the bars of each cell they passed and several orders barked as well. Someone important was coming. Was it Yorgos? He was probably still ticked off Leo technically beat him in their fight, even if he cheated. However, instead of Yorgos, Leo was looking at three all too familiar faces from behind the bars of his cell. A large female cyclops with greasy black hair, flanked by two male cyclopes smaller than herself.

She spoke with a low growl, wearing medieval attire that a Grecian queen would wear after rolling around in garbage. The smooth blue dress ripped in several places, the metal pin rusty, sandals ripped from her large feet, and her stench worse than anything Leo had had the pleasure of experiencing. The two male cyclopes wore attire fit for Roman gladiators, brown armor with spears in hand and a shield in the other.

"I told you, I'd have my revenge..." She growled at Leo.

"I'm impressed you can hold a grudge this long, I thought all Hyperborean Cyclopes were dead dumb," He tried to muster up any courage he could as he stared into the face of the cyclops woman, "Ma Gasket."

She merely smiled with a few teeth in her mouth before laughing, banging her fists on the cell before she and her two sons walked away back down the hallway. Leaving Leo trapped in his cell, wondering how she would have her revenge. But one thing was for sure, he couldn't let the other demigods die because of his mistakes.


End file.
